KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): Gas Malaysia Bhd has reported a 0.1% increase in net profit for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) to RM69.29 million from RM69.23 million.

In a filing on Wednesday (Feb 16), Gas Malaysia said that its earnings per share (EPS) stood at 5.4 sen from 5.39 sen a year prior.

Its quarterly revenue improved by 6.7% to RM1.94 billion from RM1.82 billion in the previous year.

"This was in line with higher average natural gas tariff, mitigated by lower volume of natural gas sold, coupled with lower recognition of revenue cap during the current quarter," it said.

For 4QFY21, Gas Malaysia declared a second interim dividend of six sen per share amounting to RM77.04 million to be paid on March 31, with an ex-date of March 2.

Meanwhile, Gas Malaysia's net profit for its full FY21 improved by 17.4% to RM249.62 million compared with RM212.62 million in FY20, against a decline of 12.5% in revenue to RM5.85 billion from RM6.69 billion.

Its FY21 EPS rose to 19.44 sen from 16.56 sen.

Cumulatively, Gas Malaysia has declared a total dividend of 10.8 sen per share for FY21, a 1.15 sen improvement from FY20's 9.65 sen.

The group attributed the decline in revenue to lower average natural gas tariff, which was offset by higher volume of natural gas sold and higher recognition of revenue cap.

At Wednesday's market close, Gas Malaysia shares were three sen or 1.13% higher at RM2.69, giving the natural gas group a market capitalisation of RM3.45 billion.

The natural gas group currently trades at 13.84 times earnings while its FY21 dividend of 10.8 sen translates into a dividend yield of 4.01% per share.