Biokraft International

POSITIVE QUARTER WITH INCREASED SALES IN BUSINESS AREA SWEDEN

FIRST QUARTER 2024 IN BRIEF

• Energy sold totalled 98.4 (88.9) GWh.
• Total revenue, including capitalised work, increased 26.5% to SEK 163.3 (130.1) million.
• Operating EBITDA totalled SEK 20.9 (7.9) million.
• Profit/loss after tax was SEK -34.4 (-58.8) million.
• Basic and diluted earnings per share were SEK -0.79 (-1.35).
• The order book totalled 1.9 TWh (2.5) at the end of the quarter, corresponding to a contract value of approximately SEK 2.7 (3.4) billion. We also have feedstock supply contracts corresponding to 2.6 (2.4) TWh.
• In March, our principal shareholder 1Vision Biogas AB announced its acquisition of 96.8% of the shares in Biokraft International AB through a mandatory offer of SEK 20.65 per share, along with its intention to delist the Company from Nasdaq First Premier Growth Market. The Board’s application to delist, submitted on 22 March, was approved by Nasdaq Stockholm on 26 March. The final day of trading was 8 April.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER THE END OF THE PERIOD

On 6 May, SEK 557.5 million was repaid to holders of the Company’s outstanding corporate bond. The remaining portion of the bond amounts to SEK 78.8 million. The repayment of SEK 557.5 million, along with accrued interest, was financed via a shareholder loan from 1Vision Biogas AB on favourable terms. A ‘Change of Control Event’ occurred upon the Company’s delisting on 9 April, prompting bondholders holding bonds in an additional total amount of SEK 30 million to exercise their right of redemption. The redemption date will be no later than 11 July, after which Biokraft will hold bonds totalling a nominal amount of SEK 651.25 million.

CEO COMMENT

The year started out well, with operating EBITDA increasing over 165 per cent to SEK 20.9 million, as compared with SEK 7.9 million last year. Energy sold increased more than 10 per cent and totalled 98.4 (88.9) GWh. The improvement is mainly attributable to Business Area Sweden, which increased the amount of energy sold by 24 per cent to 53.7 (43.3) GWh. This positive development is due to increased production and higher prices, along with more efficient utilisation of our facilities. In Business Area Norway, we have started recovering from our earlier production challenges and are delivering on a par with last year, with energy sold totalling 29.2 (29.6) GWh. Total revenue, including own work capitalised, increased 25.6% and totalled SEK 163.3 (130.1) million. Business Area Korea has fallen off a bit, with 15.5 (16.0) GWh energy sold, due to a slightly lower inflow of substrate, but continues to maintain stable production.

In December 2023 our two largest shareholders, Aneo Renewables Holding AS and St1 Sverige AB, announced their intention to consolidate their shares into a new company, 1Vision Biogas. At the close of the offer period, 1Vision Biogas announced its acquisition of 96.8 per cent of the shares in the Company and its intention to delist Biokraft International AB from Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market. The final day of trading was 8 April.

The mandatory bid also triggered several events regarding our outstanding green corporate bond, including two ‘Change of Control Events’: the first triggered by the mandatory bid and the second by the delisting. The bondholders were there-fore entitled to exercise their right to early redemption. On 7 March, we announced that bondholders representing SEK 557.5 million had elect-ed to exercise their right to redemption. Settlement was made on 6 May via a loan from 1Vision Biogas. The Extraordinary General Meeting held on 27 March authorised an issue of SEK 150 million to be used for continued investments in Biokraft’s current operations. Another Extraordinary General Meeting, held on 15 April, elected a new Board of Directors comprising representatives of the Company’s owner. Henrikki Talvitie, CEO of St1, is the new chair of the board.

OUTLOOK

Interest in biogas, especially Bio-LNG, remains high in the European market. The European Commission's target of an annual biomethane production of 350 TWh by 2030 directs focus to the issue, and through the REPowerEU initiative, several activities are underway to create the conditions for our industry to scale up production. For us, this means that we are seeing sustained high demand for our produced biogas, and we have contracted most of our produced volumes for the coming years. We also see that substrate availability remains good.

We are continuing our work with pricing transformation, transitioning from old to new contracts, along with our systematic improvements to current operations to increase our pro-duction and profitability.

FORECAST

For 2024, we see that the pricing transformation has had an effect straight away as from the start of the year. More than 60 per cent of contracted volumes will be sold through new agreements at market prices for biomethane, Bio-LNG and green certificates. Input costs remain at a high level. Our profitability will gradually improve during the year. For 2024, an operational EBITDA of SEK 90–120 million is forecast, exclusive of the Mönsterås project. At least the same level is also forecast for 2025, exclusive of the Mönsterås project. Preparations for the commissioning of Mönsterås are scheduled for the end of the year, with actual commissioning scheduled for the first half of 2025.

MATTI VIKKULA
President and CEO

This information herein is information that Biokraft International AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons, on Thursday 16 May 2024 at 7:30 a.m. (CET).

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Matti Vikkula, CEO, telephone: +46 70 597 99 38

calendAr