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ublicly listed PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) registered an 8.8 increase in revenues through the first quarter of this year to US$582.1 million from $534.6 million over the same period last year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 6 percent to $321.4 million from $303.2 million.

The unaudited financial report issued on Monday showed operational profits in the first quarter of this year were up by 7.67 percent to $276.5 million from $256.8 million during the same period last year.

The value of the company’s assets grew by 6.02 percent to $3.6 billion by March 2012 compared to $3.4 billion in December 2011.

Liabilities reached $1.44 billion, decreasing slightly from $1.52 billion in December, with total equity of $2.1 billion, up from $1.88 billion.

In the first quarter of 2012, the gas sales volume hit 787 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) with power plants as the company’s main gas receivers. The transmitted gas volume was 861 mmscfd, which was mostly achieved by PGN subsidiary PT Transportasi Gas Indonesia.

PGN President Director Hendi Priyo Santoso said PGN was committed to supporting the utilization of natural gas for domestic purposes.

“Among our plans, we aim to add supply to East Java, whose delivery is expected to kick off this year,” he said.

Through the financial report, PGN also informed that a floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU), which will be located in Jakarta Bay, North Jakarta, has departed from the Jurong Shipyard. The vessel is expected to arrive in the near future and will be integrated with supporting facilities.

The FSRU will be operated by PT Nusantara Regas, which is jointly formed by PGN and state oil and gas company PT Pertamina with a share composition of 40:60.

“The completion of the project will be very beneficial for fulfilling gas demand in West Java,” Hendi said.

The company has actually planned to set up another FSRU in Belawan, North Sumatra. However, after Pertamina announced its plan to convert the Arun liquefied natural gas plant in Aceh into a receiving terminal, the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry ordered the FSRU to be relocated to Lampung. As of today, there is no certainty over the relocation plan.

PGN operates more than 5,800 kilometers of transmission and distribution pipeline networks across Indonesia. The company dominates around 90 percent of the gas infrastructure in the country.

Shares in PGN, coded PGAS, traded at Rp 3,350 apiece on Monday’s trading close, down 0.74 percent from a day earlier.