Petronet LNG, the nation's largest liquefied natural gas importer, on Tuesday reported 70.24% surge in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31.

The company posted net profit of Rs 204.35 crore, against Rs 120.03 crore in the same quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Further, during the quarter, total operating income of the company also rose to Rs 2,654.88 crore, as against Rs 1,752.65 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

For the full year ended March 31, 2009, Petronet LNG posted a net profit of Rs 518.44 crore as compared to Rs 474.66 crore in the corresponding period last year.

In addition, the total income of the company from all operations during the same period also grew to Rs 8,428.70 crore, from Rs 6,555.31 crore from the corresponding period in FY'08.

Besides announcement of results, Petronet LNG declared a dividend at 17.5 per cent on the paid-up share capital of the company (Rs 1.75 a share) for the year ended March 31, 2009.