KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 4): Petronas Gas Bhd (PetGas) saw its net profit for the second financial quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15) surge 88% to RM818.05 million or 41.34 sen per share, from RM435.26 million or 22 sen last year, on lower tax expenses.  

The natural gas supplier declares a second interim dividend of 14 sen for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2015, payable on Sept 11. The group declared a 20 sen dividend in last corresponding period. Year-to-date, the group has declared a total 28 sen dividend, as compared to 20 sen in 1HFY14.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, PetGas noted its profit for the period increased by RM382.5 million, due to recognition of deferred tax assets (DTA) arising from investment tax allowance (ITA) granted for Plant Rejuvenation and Revamp (PRR).  

"Excluding impact of DTA, profit for [the] quarter decreased by RM24.9 million or 5.7%," it added.  

Quarterly revenue dropped 1.82% to RM1.08 billion, against RM1.1 billion last year, due to lower utilities revenue resulting from electricity tariff rebate.

For the cumulative six months (1HFY15), PetGas posted a net profit of RM1.27 billion or 64.08 sen per share, nearly 49% higher as compared to RM853.27 million or 43.12 sen per share a year earlier, due to same reason.  

It said if the impact of DTA and foreign exchange (forex) was to be excluded, net profit increased by RM95.7 million or 11.5% on year.  

Revenue for the six months grew 1.4% to RM2.18 billion, from RM2.15 billion a year ago.  

Going forward, PetGas expects its Gas Processing, Gas Transportation and Regasification segments to remain stable in 2015.  

This, according to the group, was relying on steady revenue base generated from Gas Processing Agreement, Gas Transportation Agreements and Regasification Services Agreement, signed with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) respectively.

"Whilst performance for the utilities segment will continue to be driven by petrochemical customers' demand," it added.  

In a separate filing, PetGas announced the appointment of Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas as its non executive chairman with effect from Sept 1.  

The 63 year-old Shamsul is the former President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Petronas from Feb 10, 2010 to March 31, 2015, where he joined since 1975.  

He had served in various capacities during his 40 years tenure with the organization, the filing said.

PetGas' (fundamental: 2.7; valuation: 1.1) share price closed by gaining six sen or 0.27% at RM22.46 today, bringing its market capitalisation to RM44.32 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)