Dana Gas recommends dividend of Dh8 fils per share for 2021 amid record profit

Move marks a 45% increase in the company’s total dividend for 2021

A Dana Gas plant in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The company swung to a record profit last year as collections improved. Photo: Dana Gas

Sharjah-based Dana Gas will recommend that shareholders approve a cash dividend of 4.50 fils for the second half of 2021, bringing the total dividend for the year to 8 fils per share.

The move marks a 45 per cent annual increase in the Abu Dhabi-listed company’s total dividend for the year ended December 31, 2021, Dana Gas said in a statement on Tuesday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

The company swung to a record annual profit last year as collections improved amid higher oil prices.

“Dana Gas achieved record profits and collections over the previous year through careful management of costs and operations and against a backdrop of rising energy prices,” said chairman Hamid Jafar.

“This has enabled the board to recommend a total of 8 fils in dividends for 2021.”

Net profit for the 12-month period to the end of December climbed to $317 million, from a loss of $376m in 2020, the company said in February.

Revenue increased 30 per cent a year to $452m in 2021, supported mainly by higher oil prices and increased production in Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The outlook for 2022 is “positive, given higher energy prices and the continued focus on management of operations and growth projects”, Mr Jafar said.

The KM250 gas expansion project undertaken by Dana Gas in KRI is continuing, the company said.

Construction works at the Khor Mor field remain on track to deliver the first 250 million standard cubic feet per day gas processing train in the second quarter of 2023, it said.

The group's cash collections hit a record $377m last year, up from $182m in 2020, bringing the total cash balance at the end of the year to $185m, the company said.

Egypt and the KRI contributed $193m and $184m, respectively, to its collections.

Dana Gas, which spent about $126m in capital expenditure in 2021, is expected to maintain the same level of spending this year.

The company does not have an immediate need to raise further debt, chief executive Patrick Allman-Ward said last month.