S Korean Kogas' net profit surges nearly 150% on year to $36 million in Q2

South Korean state-run Korea Gas Corp - the world's largest buyer of LNG - said Thursday its net profit jumped 148.8% year on year to Won 40.3 billion ($35.7 million) in the second quarter from Won 16.2 billion a year earlier, on higher gas prices.
Operating income rose 69.5% year on year to Won 232.6 billion in Q2, compared with Won 137.2 billion recorded in the same period last year. Sales revenue in the quarter ended June 30 was Won 8 trillion, up 36.8% from Won 5.84 trillion a year earlier.
Compared with the previous quarter, net profit plunged 90.1% and operating income dropped 67.7% as revenue fell 32.6%.
For the first half of the year, net profit rose 6.9% year on year to Won 451.6 billion, from Won 422.5 billion a year earlier. Operating profit climbed 21.7% to Won 953 billion from Won 782.8 billion and revenue rose 35.4% to Won 19.87 trillion from Won 14.68 trillion a year earlier.
Kogas expects earnings to improve in the third quarter on price hikes. South Korea has raised domestic gas rates by 4.9% on average from June 30. The government has put a freeze on gas price hikes since October last year when it increased the rate by 5.3%. In 2011, the government raised prices in January and May, by 4.9% and 4.8%, respectively.
Kogas, which has a monopoly on domestic natural gas sales, sold 19.56 million mt of LNG in the first six months this year, up 4.6% from a year ago when it sold 18.71 million mt.
Of the total, sales to power generators increased 8% year on year to 8.92 million mt, whereas sales to retail gas companies for household and business consumption were up 1.8% to 10.64 million mt.
Source: Platts