National Gas Company has reported a 16.5% decline in net profit for the 9 month period ended September 30th 2012 mainly due to expenses on cylinder replacements and expansion into the Malaysian market this year.

The company reported a net profit of OMR 757,401 in the first 9 months of this year against a net profit of OMR 907,217 in the same period last year. The company's income declined by 12.9% to OMR 11.64 million from OMR 13.36 million last year.

Mr Gautam Sen CEO of National Gas said that the increased cost on replacement of gas cylinders has hit the company's profits. In the local market, there is a new government requirement for gas companies to replace gas cylinders which are more than 15 years old. So cost of cylinders has increased drastically which has reflected in our quarterly result. We are working with the government to negotiate on the issue of the prices of new cylinders."

He said that "The group profits of the company were adversely affected due to the pre operative expenses incurred from the Malaysian venture this year. As we entered into Malaysian market, the revenues have not started to come in, only expenses.”

Source - Muscat Daily

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