NEWS
LNG player Distrigas reports 16% profit fall
Brussels, Sept 2 (LNG journal)
- Distrigas, the Belgian-based energy company and liquefied natural gas player, said first-half net income fell more than 16 percent as increased domestic competition failed to offset external sales growth.
Distrigas, which earlier this year signed a 20-year agreement to receive some 2.05 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the RasGas II project in Qatar , said net income fell to €70.98 million ($89M) from €84.78M in the year-ago period. The Qatar LNG will be delivered to the Zeebrugge terminal on the Belgian coast starting in 2007.
The Belgian company also said in its earnings statement that its purchase during the first-half of the Methania LNG carrier from Exmar, the shipping company also based in Belgium, will enable it to “step up its presence in LNG transport and to seize commercial opportunities that this business may offer.”
Total sales of natural gas increased by 8 percent due to strong growth in sales outside of Belgium and in arbitrage, Distrigas said. Sales outside of Belgium and its arbitrage activities enabled it to boost turnover by 28.7 percent.
Sales outside Belgium and arbitrage sales increased sharply, mainly due to a doubling of sales volume in France, Distrigas said. Sales of LNG in Spain also rose compared with 2004. Sales to industrial consumers in France “continued their sharp upward trend.”
Referring to the outlook for the rest of the year, Distrigas said: “The liberalisation of markets generates, for all trading companies, a wide variability in results and, consequently, increased uncertainty in forecasting. Therefore, Group results will, more than in the past, fluctuate along with energy market prices.”
