EnviTec Biogas with very strong performance in Q3/2011

- Q3 sales revenues up 69% to EUR 77 million
- EBIT improves markedly from EUR 0.5 million to EUR 5.9 million in Q3
- Forecast: Strong sales and earnings growth in full year
- EEG 2012 will open up opportunities

Lohne, 21 November 2011 – EnviTec Biogas [ISIN: DE000A0MVLS8] looks back on a very strong third quarter of 2011. The specialist for the construction and operation of biogas plants continued the positive sales and earnings performance of the first six months and pushed ahead the capacity expansion in the Own Plant Construction segment. Says CFO Jörg Fischer: “The third quarter saw us working close to the capacity limit.”

Especially the high demand for biogas plants in Germany, where the new Renewable Energy Sources Act will come into force in 2012, led to a sharp rise in sales revenues and earnings. In the third quarter, the company generated revenues of EUR 77.3 million, 69% more than in the previous year. Between July and September, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased markedly from EUR 0.5 million in the previous year to EUR 5.9 million. Operating cash flow also improved significantly in the first nine months and amounted to EUR 3.7 million, compared to a clearly negative EUR -7.9 million in the prior year period. In this context, it should be noted that EnviTec Biogas is currently expanding its Own Plant Operation segment. In the third quarter, biogas plants with a total capacity of 13 megawatts (MW) were under construction. A good 40 MW is expected to be on line by the end of the year.

EnviTec Biogas will continue to grow in the fourth quarter of 2011. While the level of the third quarter will probably not quite be reached for weather-related reasons, sales and earnings should increase compared to the previous year. The Executive Board therefore confirms its projections for the full year 2011, according to which both sales and earnings will increase markedly on the previous year.

EEG 2012 – EnviTec has set the course
“We have taken important strategic decisions in the past weeks to continue our positive performance in future,” says Olaf von Lehmden, CEO of EnviTec Biogas AG. After all, the biogas sector in Germany - which remains the world’s largest biogas market - will change next year. This is attributable to the new Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), which will make the framework conditions and the project planning process much more complex. But changes usually also entail opportunities, and EnviTec Biogas want to seize these opportunities in the Plant Construction and Own Plant Operation segments. Going forward, every plant operator can benefit from the new tariff system under the EEG and sell electricity produced in line with demand as well as balancing energy. With a view to exploiting these value creation possibilities, EnviTec Biogas established a subsidiary, EnviTec Stromkontor GmbH & Co. KG, in November. The company will pool the capacity of a large number of biogas plants and combine them into a virtual power station. The electricity will then be marketed in line with demand. EnviTec Stromkontor will cooperate with EGL Deutschland GmbH, a subsidiary of Swiss electricity company EGL AG. The marketing concept is interesting for both existing and new plants, which generally receive the same compensation possibilities under the EEG 2012. EnviTec Biogas will assign a large number of its own plants to the plant pool. As a result, EnviTec Stromkontor will have a rated electrical output of 35 MW from the start. : “We have just presented our new offering at the Agritechnica show, where it received a very positive response," says Olaf von Lehmden. Another element in the energy marketing portfolio of EEG electricity is EnviTec Energy Contracting GmbH & Co. KG. The company offers heat buyers contracting models, under which it generates heating energy from self-produced biomethane in efficient co-generation units and sells it to heat buyers under long-term contracts. EnviTec has been able to sign up Alfred Gayer as Managing Director of the new subsidiary. The graduate engineer and engineering manager previously held various senior positions with energy company RWE and will join our company with effect from 1 February 2012 to support the marketing of green heat at stable prices and attractive conditions. By establishing the two new subsidiaries, EnviTec Biogas has clearly set the course for the future.

Following the record year 2011, there will be a transitional period in the first few months of 2012, during which the industry will have to adapt to the more complex environment. EnviTec will be able to offset most of the anticipated decline in domestic demand thanks to strong export activity, comprehensive residual work on plants taken into service in 2011 and the operation of its own plants. Italy, the UK, the Czech Republic and France remain promising foreign markets and the company expects to start building the first biogas plants in the United States and Spain. In the current year, EnviTec Biogas has connected a large number of its own plants to the grid. They will mostly operate under full load in 2012. The interim report on the first nine months of 2011 is available on the Internet at www.envitec-biogas.de.

About EnviTec Biogas AG
EnviTec Biogas AG covers the entire value chain for the production of biogas - including the planning and turnkey construction of biogas plants as well as their commissioning. The company provides the biological and technical service, and also offers full plant and operating management. In Güstrow, in the German state of Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania, EnviTec Biogas built the world's largest plant for the production of biogas to natural gas standards with a thermal output of 55 megawatts. In addition, the company also operates its own biogas plants. Today, the company is represented in more than 15 countries throughout Europe, as well as in India. EnviTec Biogas generated revenues of EUR 148 million and EBIT of EUR 1.0 million in 2010. The EnviTec Group currently has 457 employees. EnviTec has been listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since July 2007.

Press contact:
Thomas Bolte
EnviTec Biogas AG
Tel: +49 25 74 88 88 -198
E-Mail: t.bolte@envitec-biogas.de

Investor Relations:
Olaf Brandes
EnviTec Biogas AG
Tel: +49 44 42 80 65 -118
E-Mail: ir@envitec-biogas.de

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