BG Group plc today announced its third quarter results for 2001, maintaining a strong performance for the year with substantial growth in profits and earnings.

Total operating profit* rose by 20 per cent to £202 million. Underlying performance has continued to improve and, excluding the impact of changes in gas and oil prices in the upstream business, the Group's total operating profit* rose by 18 per cent.

Earnings* increased to £102 million and earnings per share* rose by 18 per cent to 2.9 pence.

BG Group Chairman Richard Giordano said, "BG Group continued its delivery of strong profit and earnings growth in the third quarter, building on the solid performance achieved in the first half of the year."

Chief Executive Frank Chapman said, "These results reflect a quarter of robust operational performance, project delivery and exploration success, together with key portfolio moves."

Key developments

• A conditional agreement was signed to acquire Enron's Indian upstream operations for $388 million. The assets to be acquired are 30 per cent interests in the Tapti gas field and in the Panna/Mukta oil and gas field and a 62.64 per cent interest in the CB-OS/1 exploration licence. BG also purchased the interests of its partner in the proposed Pipavav LNG importation and regasification project in the state of Gujarat, India and Gujarat Gas signed an agreement to buy gas from the Lakshmi field offshore Western India.
  
  

• Armada Phase 2 drilling is scheduled to begin in November, with initial production expected in the first quarter of 2002. Also in November, the Juno project (Easington Catchment Area Phase 2) was granted project sanction by the Department of Trade and Industry.
  
  

• The third quarter also saw the start of a Front End Engineering Design study for Egyptian LNG. The planned capacity of the LNG train is 3.6 million tonnes per annum and first production of LNG is planned for 2005. Good progress continues with LNG sale negotiations.
  
  

• On 13th September, BG and its partners in the $300 million North Coast Marine Area ("NCMA") project successfully completed the installation of the Hibiscus production and drilling platform. First production from NCMA, in which BG Group has a 45.89 per cent interest, is targeted for the second quarter of 2002.

(*Continuing operations excluding exceptional items)

Notes

BG Group plc, The Integrated Gas Major, works across the spectrum of the gas chain. Active on four continents in some 20 countries, BG operates four business segments - Exploration & Production, Liquefied Natural Gas, Transmission & Distribution and Power.

BG is a significant holder of hydrocarbon reserves on the UK Continental Shelf, where it operates the Blake, Armada and Easington Catchment Area fields.

Internationally, BG's operational strategy is to develop gas markets and construct infrastructure in tandem with its exploration interests. BG's core areas are the UK, Egypt, Kazakhstan, South America and Trinidad & Tobago.