Austrian BDI Bioenergy enjoys surge in orders in H1 2012

(SeeNews) – Aug 9, 2012 – BDI BioEnergy International AG (ETR:D7I) said today its order backlog grew to EUR 28.5 million (USD 35m) in the first six months of 2012, as compared to EUR 22.2 million in the same period of 2011.

Sales and earnings for the period, however, came in lower than a year earlier, the Austrian waste-to-biofuel technology company said.

Sales went down by an annual 12.7% to EUR 15.2 million and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) dropped by 84.3% to EUR 400,000. The EBIT margin shrank to 6.3% from 16.4%.

Pretax profit was down by 66.6% on the year to EUR 1 million.

BDI said the figures reflect the difficult economic environment in which it is currently operating and called 2012 a transition year. The transition falls into the company's plans for a strategic revamp in the future. BDI is trying to broaden its portfolio by entering new segments. Other than constructing specialty biodiesel and biogas facilities, the company wants to become a supplier of various industrial green technology solutions.

The company said it finished the mechanical construction of a biodiesel plant in France, the order volume for which was EUR 4.45 million, in the second quarter of 2012. Once launched, the plant will supply 4,000 households with renewable energy by processing waste food.
Another plant in France, which will be the largest multi-feedstock biodiesel facility in the country, is currently under construction. The volume for that order was EUR 16.4 million, BDI said.

BDI also launched a pilot project together with Austrian oil and gas company OMV (WBAG:OMV) on July 2. The facility based near Vienna will produce diesel fuel from solid biomass.

(EUR 1.00 = USD 1.229)

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