Gevo reports losses in Q4 2018, with hopeful outlook for 2019

US biofuels producer Gevo announced its financial results from the fourth quarter of 2018, which includes its outlook for 2019.

Revenues in the three months ending December 31, 2018 were $6.6 million (€5.8 million) compared with $6.7 million in 2017’s final quarter. Gevo attributes the $0.1 million loss to lower production values combined with the elimination of a lease for feedstock storage facilities effect January 2018.

Gevo also reported a loss from operations of $6.7 million for the quarter, as well as an EBITDA loss of $4.8 million. The net loss per share for the final quarter of 2018 was $0.83.

“In February we entered into a long-term, ‘take-or-pay’ agreement with HCS Group in February. We believe this is a game-changing, bankable agreement that is another important step forward to delivering on our promise to address the need for low-carbon fuels while also meeting sustainability requirements for our customers to reduce their carbon footprints,” Gevo said in a statement.

“This agreement strengthens our existing partnership with HCS Group that began with a prior agreement signed in 2017. Our technology and our renewable isooctane have been proven in highly demanding niche applications and we now intend to scale substantially in order to produce and sell our renewable isooctane for a variety of high-end fuel and solvent applications.

“The volume of the off-take in the HCS Group agreement covers a substantial portion of the projected capacity for our build-out of our production facility in Luverne, Minnesota, and the agreement is designed to facilitate debt financing for expansion of our production facility. We plan to focus our immediate attention on entering into additional off-take agreements for the remainder of the projected capacity in order to secure debt financing for the build out of our Luverne facility.”

For 2019, Gevo claims that it intends to continue to develop its markets for renewable isooctane, jet fuel and isobutanol products made from isobutanol and ethanol, including the value-added animal feed and protein products.

In addition to decarbonising its Luverne facility, the company plans to enter into binding, financeable supply contracts for jet fuel, on-road gasoline isooctane and isobutanol.

Gevo concluded that the combination of these agreements, along with the contracts, will help enable it to fully finance the build-out of the Luverne facility.