Gevo posts USD 9.8m Q3 loss

Commercial bio-based isobutanol plant at Luverne. Source: http://www.gevo.com

Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) on Monday reported a third-quarter (Q3) net loss of USD 9.8 million (EUR 9.1m) and said isobutanol production for 2016 would be near the low-end of its updated forecast.

The US biofuels company restarted production of isobutanol at its plant in Luverne, Minnesota in March. It previously expected to produce 750,000 to 1 million gallons in 2016 but in August cut the forecast to 500,000-650,000 gallons to reflect production ramp-up delays.

Gevo said yesterday it has produced 240,000 gallons so far in 2016 and expects the full-year isobutanol volume to be approximately 500,000 gallons. The firm also expects to reduce the variable cost of producing isobutanol at Luverne to a range of USD 3.00 to USD 3.50 per gallon, while the expected average selling price is USD 3.50-USD 4.50 per gallon.

The table contains Gevo’s results for the third quarter.

Results in USD million	Q3 2016	Q3 2015
Revenue	6.9	8.0
Operating loss	6.1	9.3
Non-GAAP cash EBITDA loss	4.1	6.4
Net loss	9.8	6.5
Non-GAAP adjusted net loss	8.2	11.4

Revenues derived at Luverne stood at USD 6.4 million, down by about USD 1.2 million on the year because of lower ethanol production, and decreased ethanol and distiller grain prices.

As at end-September Gevo had USD 31.1 million in cash. Through the remainder of 2016 and into 2017 the firm will continue its work to improve the Luverne plant at its current scale, and with a view towards expanding the facility. It has plans to increase production volumes and make specific grades of isobutanol for specific applications. Gevo said its optimisation efforts could result in the need to add more equipment, systems or processes at Luverne in the future.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.93)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!