CropEnergies reports increased ethanol production despite lower revenues

German biofuel producer CropEnergies increased its ethanol output in the first half of the 2016/17 financial year, despite falling revenues.

Bioethanol production at CropEnergies increased from 422,000m³ to 450,000 m³ in H1 2016/17, with the production of food and animal products correspondingly increasing.

The rise in production volumes resulted from a higher capacity utilisation mainly due to the restart of the production plant in Wilton, UK, in July 2016 which, thanks to the technical modifications that have been carried out, now has an improved process stability and energy efficiency.

The company achieved revenues of €350 million in H1, 10.2% lower than the previous year's revenues of €390 million, mainly due to lower trade volumes and lower ethanol prices.

Even though revenues in the Q2 2016/17, at €182 did not quite reach the previous year's level of €193 million, they exceeded those of Q1 at €168 million.

EBITDA improved to €59 million in H1 from the €57 million year-on-year, with €31 million of EBITDA from Q2.

Lower raw material and energy prices counteracted the operative costs for the restart of the production plant in Wilton.

The decrease of trading volumes, coupled with an increase in the sale of volumes produced by CropEnergies, also contributed to the positive development of the earnings situation.

Altogether, H1 2016/17 yielded an operating profit which, at €41 million, was slightly above the previous year's level of €40 million.

Operating margin improved to 11.7% mainly due to the reduced revenues, and operating profit in Q2 2016/17 reached €22 million, which results in an operating margin of 11.9%.

Against this background, CropEnergies has increased its forecast for revenues for the financial year 2016/17 and expects them to lie between €670-720 million, apart from the previous forecast of €640-700 million.

At the same time, CropEnergies confirms the forecast for its results and continues to expect an EBITDA, adjusted for special items, in a range between €85-115 million.

The operating result is still expected in a range between €50-80 million while restructuring costs and special items are expected to significantly decrease compared to the previous year.