BG bids for Australia energy firm

Origin has interests in the LPG market

UK energy firm BG Group has offered 13bn Australian dollars ($12.1bn; £6.2bn) for Origin Energy - Australia's second biggest power retailer.

Analysts say the firm is attractive to BG because of its oil and gas production resources.

These help it boost profits at a time when margins in the traditional retail business are tight, observers added.

BG also announced a 78% jump in profits for the first three months of 2008, driven by high oil and gas prices.

Net profit for the quarter rose to £767m, beating analysts' forecasts.

On Tuesday, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell reported a 12% rise in first-quarter profits, while those at rival BP climbed 48%.

'Full offer'

Shares in Origin jumped by as much as 40% on news of the offer.

The Australian firm said that it had yet to consider the bid, but analysts said it was unlikely that any other firm would come up with a rival bid.

"It's not as if it's a low offer putting it into play," said Rohan Walsh, an investment manager at Karara Capital.

"This seems like a fairly full offer on face value."