State-run Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) said Tuesday that its third-quarter loss widened from a year earlier mainly due to increased fuel costs and a weak local currency.

Net loss reached 342 billion won ($298 million) in the July-September period, compared with a loss of 121 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales surged 24 percent to 5.06 trillion won over the cited period. KOGAS suffered an operating loss of 127 billion won in the third quarter, widening from an operating loss of 22 billion won a year earlier, it said.

The utility firm attributed the higher losses in the third-quarter to increased costs of gas imports and a weak local currency against the U.S. dollar.

Shares of KOGAS closed at 38,050 won on the Seoul bourse, down 0.91 percent. The third-quarter earnings were released before the market closed.

(Yonhap News)