Dana Gas, the Middle East’s largest regional private sector natural gas company posted a net profit of $317 million (AED1.16 billion) in 2021.
The declaration was made in the Preliminary Unaudited Financial Results for the full year ended 31st December 2021, announced on Wednesday.
The increase was primarily due to higher oil prices, improved operational performance, and income.
Revenue increased 30 percent to $452 million (AED1.65 billion) in 2021 compared to $349 million (AED1.3 billion) in 2020, supported by higher oil prices and higher production in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
In light of the company’s strong financial performance during the year, the Board of Directors of Dana Gas determined in November 2021 to pay a dividend of 7 fils per year payable in six monthly instalments of 3.5 fils each.
This increased Dana Gas’s annual dividend by 27 percent from the previous 5.5 fils.
The first interim dividend of 3.5 fils was distributed in January 2022 following shareholders’ approval in December 2021.
Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of Dana Gas, commented, “We closed the year on a solid financial footing due to a robust operational performance over the last 12 months”.
“We had record gas and LPG production in the KRI in December, achieving a 50 percent growth in gas production over the past three years and record collections of $377 million”, added the CEO.
He said, “We have progressed significantly on our expansion works at the Khor Mor plant as the first KM250 gas train is expected to go on stream as scheduled in Q2 2023”.
He noted KRI operations achieved net carbon neutral status in 2021.
“This is an important milestone on our journey to reducing the carbon intensity of our operations to provide low-carbon energy for our customers”, remarked the CEO.