Jakarta, (ANTARA) - State-owned gas company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk. (PGN) reported a net profit of Rp2 trillion (US$145.94 million) in the first half of this year.

The management of the company reported in a shareholders` meeting here on Monday that it recorded positive performance with an income of US$1.62 billion in the first six months of the year.

The company performed better than in the same period last year, its management said. In the first half of 2017, PGN recorded US$1.41 billion in income with net profit of around US$50 million (Rp670.3 billion or an increase of 191.8 percent.

The bulk or US$1.27 billion of the income in the January-June period this year came from the sales of natural gas and the rest from the sales of oil.

"This year is full of challenges amid protracted global economic slowdown. We are also busy to bring to success the process of integration of PT Pertamina Gas (Pertagas) as a subsidiary of PGN," company`s corporate secretary Rachmat Hutama said.

In the first six months of the year, natural gas distributed by PGN and subsidiaries totaled 835.56 BBTUD, or up 11.55 percent from 749.02 BBTUD in the same period last year.

Gas transported via pipeline by PGN and subsidiary PT Kalimantan Jawa Gas totaled 727.4 BBTUD, up slightly from 723.9 BBTUD in the same period last year.

"The number of customers of PGN have increased significantly in the first half of 2018. The number of users of natural gas by the end of the period totaled 203,151, up 16.96 percent from 173,681 customers in the same period last year," Rachmat said.

PGN customers including big industries, power plants, hotels, restaurants, hospitals and households, are found in all provinces of the country served by the company and its subsidiaries including PT Kalimantan Jawa Gas, PT Transportasi Gas Indonesia, and PT Gagas Energi Indonesia.



Reporting by Afut Syafril Nursyirwan
Editing by Albert Saragih, Bustanudin

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Suharto
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