Bord Gais has reported pre-tax profits of €114m for last year, up from €89m in 2001, as turnover climbed 14% to €652m. A dividend of €22m was paid to the Exchequer.
But the company has warned that profits from next year will be affected as the full impact of a €1.4 billion capital investment programme, which has pushed the company's debt levels up to €1 billion.
Bord Gais now has 412,000 residential customers, an increase of 31,000 since 2001, driven by strong growth in the new housing sector. The number of industrial and commercial customers rose by 1,000 to 16,000.
Revenue from residential sales was up 1%, though sales volumes fell slightly, partly because of milder temperatures. The company was recently granted a 9% price increase by the Commission for Energy Regulation.
During the year it completed a pipeline to the West, linking Dublin with Galway and Limerick, and a second interconnector linking Ireland with Scotland.
Bord Gais said it would be discussing the impact of An Bord Pleanala's decision yesterday to refuse planning permission for a natural gas terminal in Mayo to land gas from the Corrib Field with the Corrib operators. Bord Gais has an agreement to build and operate a pipeline from Mayo to Galway.
Chief executive Gerry Walsh said the company would inevitably lose some market share as a result of competition in the natural gas market, and was seeking to diversify into new areas.
It now has sales of €60m in the electricity market, representing 14% of the liberalised market.
