Bord Gáis this morning reported an eight per cent drop in pre-tax profit to €99 million for last year.
It said turnover for the financial year grew by 29 per cent over 2005 to €1,108 million.
The company blamed the "huge" increase in wholesale gas prices during the period for the drop in profits and cost increases for customers last year. Chief executive Gerry Walsh described the price rise as "unprecedented and most regrettable".
He said the cost of purchasing natural gas on wholesale markets began to ease earlier this year and noted that Bord Gáis introduced a price decrease of 10 per cent in February.
"With wholesale prices continuing to fall, the clear message from Bord Gáis to our customers is that they will benefit accordingly. We expect to make a further gas price reduction during the current year," said Mr Walsh.
In a statement, the company said electricity sales rose by a quarter to €202 million in 2006. The company held eight per cent of the electricity market in Ireland last year.
Gas sales accounted for almost two thirds of turnover, an increase of 29 per cent to €710 million in 2006.
Gas transportation-only sales increased by 44 per cent to €157 million, accounting for 14 per cent of Group turnover.
With gas demand up by 16 per cent, the number of gas users on the island of Ireland rose by 35,000 in the year to 575,000, the statement added.