- General Meeting approves proposed dividend of EUR 1,00 per share for FY 2021
- All agenda items approved by a large majority
- New Bio-LNG segment for the transport sector offers considerable earnings potential
Lohne/Saerbeck, 5 July 2022 –
At its third digital Annual General Meeting, EnviTec Biogas AG (ISIN: DE000A0MVLS8) looked back on the most successful fiscal year in the history of the company. In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain problems and rising costs, the fiscal year 2021 again saw the full-service biogas provider generate very good consolidated earnings. “All business segments contributed to this success. At this point, we can only emphasise once again the great commitment, conscientiousness and performance of all our employees,” said Jörg Fischer, CFO of EnviTec Biogas AG.
The company expects the positive trend to continue in the future. Following a good first half-year, the Executive Board has upgraded the forecast for the current fiscal year 2022 and now projects earnings before taxes (EBT) of between EUR 35 million and EUR 40 million. The new Bio-LNG segment is also expected to support the company’s future performance. Starting in the first quarter of 2023, EnviTec will produce some 9,000 tons of bio-LNG per year at Energiepark Güstrow, Europe’s largest biogas plant to date. Other EnviTec sites will also focus on the production of the advanced biofuel going forward.
However, according to Olaf von Lehmden, CEO of EnviTec Biogas AG, the decarbonisation of the transport sector will be possible only if politicians and industry pull together and policy-makers provide reliable conditions in which to operate. Imposing specific requirement such as the use of biofuels, the German Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act provides for a 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. But in the context of the war against Ukraine, the Federal Environment Ministry and the Ministry for Development, in particular, had questioned important framework conditions. “This is more than annoying and incomprehensible from a business point of view, as the recent demand to exclude biofuels from cultivated biomass such as rapeseed conceals the fact that the use of these biofuels is already heavily capped by law in terms of quantity,” says Olaf von Lehmden.
Going forward, opportunities may arise from the European Commission’s RepowerEU Plan. It contains proposals on how Europe could become independent of fossil energy sources from Russia well before 2030 and envisages an important role for biomethane – for which the European Commission has announced a production target of 35 billion cubic metres by 2030.
The Annual General Meeting approved all items on the agenda with a large majority. This also included the resolution to distribute a dividend of EUR 1.00 per eligible share. A total of 85.29% of the share capital participated in the vote.
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 and biogas upgrading plants as well as their commissioning. The company takes charge of biological and technical services on demand and also offers operational management. EnviTec operates 89 own plants, making it one of the largest biogas producers in Germany. EnviTec’s business activities also include the direct marketing of processed biomethane as well as the marketing of electricity and balancing energy. With a presence in 16 countries worldwide, EnviTec Biogas AG is represented by its own companies, sales offices, strategic partners and joint ventures. In 2021, the EnviTec Group generated revenue of EUR 262.4 million and EBT of EUR 23.3 million. The Group currently employs 518 people. EnviTec Biogas AG has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since July 2007.