Dana Gas net profit climbs 20%

Abu Dhabi-listed energy firm Dana Gas said on Sunday its full-year net profit for 2012 rose 20 per cent on the back of higher oil prices and lower costs. Dana’s 2012 net profit rose to US$165 million (Dh605.5 million) from the US$138 million it posted in 2011, the company said in a statement. The company, hit by delays on payments for its supplies of natural gas to Egypt and Iraq’s Kurdistan region, reached an agreement with creditors in December to amend terms of a US$920 million Islamic bond, which had its maturity in October. “With the agreement with the sukuk-holders announced, the focus now is on receivables collection, boosting the management team, and realising the value of the assets through an international listing,” Crescent Chief Executive Majid Jafar, who is also a board member of Dana, told Reuters by phone. Dana, in which Crescent Petroleum has a 20 per cent stake, said it collected US$301 million from its share of receivables in Egypt and Kurdistan region of Iraq in 2012. The company’s cash balance rose by 47 per cent to US$165 million by the end of last year, while total assets reached US$3.5 billion at the end of December. Dana Gas, which has operations in the UAE, Egypt and Kurdistan, made quarterly profit of Dh114 million, according to Reuters calculations. It had profit of Dh147 million in the year-ago period. “We are now preparing to develop our three recent discoveries in Egypt and the Zora offshore gas field in the UAE. These projects will enable us to boost the growth that our operations have achieved consistently over the past seven years,” said Rashid Al Jarwan, executive director and acting chief executive officer of Dana Gas. From Gulf News