Cape Town - The fiscal 2003 profit of PetroSA, the national oil company, almost tripled as it boosted production and revalued foreign loans, the firm said in its annual report yesterday.
Net income rose to R3.3 billion in the year to March from R1.1 billion in the prior period, according to the report.
The company was formed last year when the state's oil and gas interests were merged. It owns the world's biggest natural gas-to-motor fuel plant at Mossel Bay.
The company is allowed to offset its income against planned capital expenditure, meaning it only had to pay R19.9 million in tax. It paid the government a R1.6 billion dividend in March.
PetroSA made R822 million as it revalued its foreign loans after the rand rose 43 percent against the dollar in the 12 months to March.
Its biggest capital expense during the year was a R705 million investment in the Sable oil field located off the country's southern coast. PetroSA has 60 percent of the field, with the rest held by Pioneer Natural Resources of the US.
Mpumelelo Tshume, PetroSA's chief executive, earned R1.5 million in the 2003 fiscal year, the annual report said. He was paid R295 715 the previous year for five months' work.