Utility giant Tenaga Nasional Bhd today said its third quarter net profit stood at RM205.3 million compared with a net loss of RM394.7 million last year.

Tenaga's revenue rose to RM4.133 billion from RM3.822 billion in the previous quarter.

But Tenaga said its net profit for the nine months to May 2003 fell two percent, to RM911.2 million from RM927.1 million a year earlier, due to a stronger pound and euro.

"The strengthening of the ringgit compared to the yen during the quarter has resulted in a lower translation loss for the group. However translation losses arising from the strengthening of pound sterling and euro currency have eroded the translation gains," it said.

Pre-tax profit

The nine-month forex loss totaled RM83.6 milliont, against forex gains of RM254.2 million ringgit the previous year.

Sales for the nine months came to RM12.13 billion compared with RM11.28 billion a year earlier while pre-tax profit stood at RM1.17 billion as opposed to RM1.30 billion previously.

In the notes accompanying the results, Tenaga said sales in the nine months increased 7.5 percent on the back of a 7.6 percent rise in electricity sales.

The profit before tax decreased by 9.6 percent compared with the corresponding period last year because of translation losses incurred mainly from the strengthening of sterling and euro against the ringgit, it added.

In the three months to May, Tenaga said its sales increased by 8.1 percent year-on-year, due to higher electricity sales.

Tenaga said it expects its performance for the year to August 2003 to be satisfactory given the continued growth in the Malaysian economy and the measures taken to improve the company's business operating efficiencies. - AFP