CropEnergies reports 12% increase in revenues despite drop in ethanol production volumes

Germany-based ethanol producer CropEnergies has reported its results for the first three quarters of financial year 2019/20, noting a 6% drop in ethanol production volumes.

The company produced 729,000 cubic metres of ethanol during the period, down from 771,000 cubic metres in the previous year. Production of dried food and animal feed products decreased accordingly, while production capacity utilisation was adjusted to suit market conditions and to carry out regular maintenance activities.

Despite a drop in production volumes, CropEnergies significantly increased its revenues during the nine months to 30 November 2019; revenues rose by 12% to €668 million, up from €596 million the previous year. This was mainly due to significantly higher sales prices for renewable ethanol.

Thanks to strong ethanol prices, EBITDA for the company in the nine-month reporting period increased to €101.9 million from just €48.5 million the previous year, despite higher raw material prices and decreased production.

Operating profit more than tripled, reaching €70.3 million (compared with €19.1 million in the 2018/19 period). This corresponds to an operating margin of 10.5%.

In December last year, CropEnergies again raised its outlook for the 2019/20 financial year on the basis of continued robust demand for climate-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels, including ethanol, and continued higher revenues for renewable ethanol.

The company now expects revenues of approximately €900 million, EBITDA of around €145 million and an operating profit of €100 million for the full-year period.

CropEnergies has an annual production capacity of 1.3 million cubic metres of ethanol across its facilities in Germany, Belgium and the UK. In addition to ethanol, the company produces 150,000 cubic metres of high-purity neutral alcohol, which is used in the beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, or for technical applications.