UAE-based Dana Gas reported a net profit of Dh33 million dirhams ($8.98 million) in the third quarter due to lower exploration costs and increased production, but the results fell short of analysts estimates.
Four analysts on average had expected Dana to make a net profit of Dh40.35 million for the third quarter according to a Reuters poll.
Exploration costs during the third quarter this year were Dh15 million compared to Dh110 million during the same period last year which resulted in the firm losing Dh79 million during that quarter.
Overall Dana's oil and gas output increased by 24 per cent during the third quarter compared to the same time last year, Dana said in a statement on Wednesday.
"This year out of eight wells in Egypt we found six producing ones and two were dry, which is a higher than average discovery rate," Ahmed Al Arbeed, Dana's chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday.