100,000 electricity customers switched over to Bord Gáis after just 41 days of the company entering the Irish domestic electricity market in a campaign called The Big Switch.
The company's CEO John Mullins said the figure only accounted for 5% of the residential electricity market and his company would be pressing ahead in its plans to attract more new customers.
Bord Gáis said its pre-tax profits fell by 10% to €151m for 2008 as a result of increased expenditure, extra regulatory requirements and the introduction of an employee share ownership plan last year.
Turnover rose by 14% to €1.379m, while a dividend of €28m was paid to the Exchequer for 2008.
The company said that its gas sales accounted for almost two thirds of group turnover, increasing by 15% to €881m, while electricity sales rose by 18% to €282m. The number of gas users rose by 4% to 630,000.
The price of gas to residential and business customers will fall by an average of 12% in May. Bord Gáis said that prices will be reviewed by the Commission for Energy Regulation for the autumn, and based on current trends in wholesale costs, it hopes to be in a position to recommend a further decrease in October.
ESB backs call for regulation change
Meanwhile, a call by Bord Gáis for a change in the system of electricity regulation, in order to enable industry secure cheaper power, has been backed by the ESB.
Bord Gáis today called for a re-balancing of tariffs, for all electricity providers, in order to improve industrial competitiveness and to save jobs.
CEO John Mullins said while the residential sector would receive significant price reductions in 2009, some of the cuts should be effectively diverted to get cheaper power for industry.
In a statement this evening, an ESB spokesperson said the industrial sector was clearly operating at a disadvantage and their company had highlighted this issue previously.
The ESB said the cost of the tariffs for industry in Ireland are over 20% above the European norm, and the company has been in discussions with the Government and Commission for Energy Regulation.
