PETROTEC AG / Quarter Results/Profit Warning
21.05.2008
Release of a Adhoc News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Ad hoc disclosure pursuant to section 15, German Securities Trading Act
Petrotec keeps sales steady despite severe market conditions
- Sales of EUR 15.7 million on a par with prior year
- Accrual for pending losses of EUR 4.6 million squeezes earnings
- Own collection of used cooking oil rose 31 %
Borken, May 21, 2008 Petrotec AG (ISIN DE000PET1111), the manufacturer of
biodiesel from used cooking oil feedstock, looks back on a tough Q1 2008.
Following re-commencement of the biodiesel plant at Oeding in early January
for technical reasons sales came to EUR 15.7 million and were thus slightly
down on the prior year figure of EUR 16.3 million. Owing to an accrual set
up for pending losses from biodiesel contracts concluded at the end of
2007, Petrotec booked a first-quarter loss before interest, taxes,
depreciation/amortization of EUR 6.1 million (prior-year loss: EUR 0.7
million). After depreciation/amortization, the loss before interest and tax
for the quarter was EUR 7.6 million (prior-year loss: EUR 2.9 million). The
after-tax loss was EUR 7.4 million (prior-year loss: EUR 3.2 million),
which translates into a loss per share of EUR 0.71 (prior-year loss per
share: EUR 0.30). Liquid funds stood at EUR 10.1 million as at March 31,
2008 and are currently close to EUR 13 million. The Management Board is
correcting the forecast for business 2008 for sales to EUR 90-100 million
(from EUR 100-110 million) and the loss before interest, taxes,
depreciation/amortization to about EUR 5 million (from 'break-even').
Own collection capacity for used cooking oil feedstock expanded by 31%
In Q1, Petrotec successfully moved forward its own collection capacity for
the used cooking oil feedstock by participations, alliances and its
in-company capacity. Thus, the company acquired a majority in a Polish
waste disposal company for used cooking oils and has signed a disposal deal
with a Hamburg company covering the collection of used cooking oil in North
Germany. Petrotec boosted its own collecting capacity by 30.8% on the same
period the year before. Petrotec subsidiary Vital Fettrecycling now
collects used cooling oil from over 16,000 hospitality outlets and food
producers throughout Europe.
Biodiesel from used cooking oil: 77% reduction in CO2 emissions
The biodiesel Petrotec produces with its proprietary technology from the
refined used cooking oil feedstock is by far the most climate-friendly and
sustainable biodiesel that can be produced. It is made from waste and does
not compete with food production, as do fresh vegetable oil feedstocks. At
the end of January 2008, the EU Commission confirmed in its EU Directive on
'Promoting the Use of Renewable Energy Sources' that biodiesel made from
used cooking oils has a CO2 reduction potential of at least 77%. Meaning
that biodiesel derived from used cooking oil contributes more than twice as
much to avoiding CO2 emissions than does biodiesel based on rapeseed oil
feedstock (36 %).
High utilization rate
In Q1 2008, Petrotec produced close to 15,800 t of biodiesel (Q1 2007:
17,100 t) and capacity utilization came to 74% (down from 82%). The loss
before interest, taxes, depreciation/amortization of EUR 6.1 million EUR is
shaped by the accrual for pending losses of EUR 4.6 million and by the high
prices for the used cooking oil feedstock. The accruals were set up for
biodiesel selling contracts primarily concluded in Q4 2007 for periods
through September 2008 at fixed prices and can at present no longer be met
at prices that are viable.
The ratio of cost of materials to sales of 90% was slightly down on the
figure of 93.5% for Q1 2007. However, this is primarily the result of the
fact that unlike the prior year no RME biodiesel was required for
wholesales in the B100 segment. The higher energy tax on pure-fuel
biodiesel of EUR 0.15 per liter in force since Jan. 1, 2008 has meant that
the B100 sales market has as good as collapsed. Petrotec was able to sell
less than 10% of its production output to forwarding agents as against 45%
a year earlier.
New staff hired
Petrotec has almost doubled its payroll from 53 in Q1 2007 to 95 staff
members, anticipating further growth and turnkey of the biodiesel plant in
the deep-sea port of Emden during Q2 2008, the pan-European expansion of
its own used cooking oil collecting capacity and the greater international
distribution of biodiesel. As a consequence, the personnel expense rose
147% on the year to EUR 1.4 million.
Assets and financial position
The Petrotec AG equity/assets ratio as at March 31, 2008 came to 57.3%
(Dec. 31, 2007: 63.6%) and liquid funds to EUR 10.1 million (Dec. 31, 2007:
EUR 20.5 million). As at March 31, 2008 Petrotec had a balance sheet total
of EUR 77.0 million, EUR 4 million down on the figure on Dec. 31, 2007. In
first-quarter 2008, Petrotec invested EUR 1.6 million in the construction
of the new biodiesel plant in Emden. The equity capital fell, in particular
owing to the loss for the period, to EUR 44.1 million (Dec. 31, 2007: EUR
51.5 million). Liabilities due to banks as at March 31, 2008 totaled EUR
18.1 million.
Outlook: Pending losses influence income for the year
In the short term, Petrotec expects a solution to fix the pending losses
for which accruals were made in the quarter under review. This will give
Petrotec the opportunity to operate its biodiesel business profitably in
line with the market and on the basis of the two key variables of biodiesel
price and the price of used cooking oil. On the selling side, the trend for
oil prices of as much as over USD 120 per barrel of late has pulled the
price for biodiesel of FAME 0 quality up to 850-950 a ton in recent
weeks. On the buying side, prices for used cooking oils have continued to
rise. On balance, the current price trends for biodiesel and used cooking
oil and the relatively stable spread between the two in recent months
suggest that at the EBITDA level profitable biodiesel production is
possible for 'back-to-back' deals. And production for sales to the B100
biodiesel market are likewise profitable at the current oil price
For business 2008 the Management Board is correcting its forecast issued at
the end of March given the probable realization of pending losses and the
reduced contribution to production for the year as a whole by the Emden
biodiesel plant to sales of about 90-100 million (previously: 100-110
million) and a loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
of about 5 million (previously: 'break even').
Disclaimer
This press information constitutes neither an offer to buy or to sell
shares or other securities issued by Petrotec AG, nor a call for submission
of offers to buy or subscribe to securities. The shares offered during the
IPO have already been placed.
About PETROTEC
Since November 2006, Petrotec AG has been listed in the first-tier market
of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under WKN PET111, ISIN DE000PET1111.
Petrotec is one of the pioneers of the German biodiesel industry. The
company started as long ago as 1998 in developing a process to produce
biodiesel from used frying and deep-frying oil. Petrotecs first industrial
biodiesel production plant went turn-key in 2000. Petrotecs proprietary
technology is able in a single fully continuous process to transform virgin
vegetable oils such as rapeseed, soybean or palm oil as well as
hard-to-process oils and fats such as used cooking oils, animal fats and
oils or fish oil into biodiesel. In other words, it is truly a
multi-feedstock technology. The annual capacity of the plant in Borken
(Westphalia), Germany, is 85,000 t biodiesel. In the first half of 2008 a
second production plant will go into operation in the deep-sea port of
Emden with an annual capacity of 100,000 t. Unlike many of its competitors,
Petrotec has for years now in its ongoing operations primarily produced
biodiesel from used cooking oils in a fully continuous process. Treated
used cooking oils as the feedstock for biodiesel production are up to 50
percent cheaper to procure than the rapeseed oil predominantly used by our
rivals in Europe. This gives Petrotec a costs edge over other manufacturers
of biodiesel, as 70-90 percent of biodiesel production costs relate to the
feedstock.
For further information, please contact
PETROTEC AG
Falk von Kriegsheim
Head of Investor Relations / Public Relations
Fürst-zu-Salm-Salm Strasse 18
46325 Borken
Germany
Tel +49 (0)2862 910060
Fax +49 (0)2862 910099
Mobil +49 (0)173 6291344
f.kriegsheim@petrotec.de
www.petrotec.de
DGAP 21.05.2008
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Language: English
Issuer: PETROTEC AG
Fürst-zu- Salm-Salm-Str. 18
46325 Borken-Burlo
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)2862 9100 19
Fax: +49 (0)2862 9100 99
E-mail: info@petrotec.de
Internet: www.petrotec.de
ISIN: DE000PET1111
WKN: PET111
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, München, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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DGAP-Adhoc: PETROTEC AG: Q1 sales steady despite severe market conditions
| Source: EQS Group AG