Growth for Denmark’s largest producer of biogas

The Nature Energy utility group got off to a good start in 2017. A positive trend in the company’s commercial activities is the main factor enabling the company to achieve satisfactory interim profits in 2017 and abide by its full-year profit forecasts. The biogas business is expected to drive the company’s long-term growth, and here, too, the early months of the year saw a positive development:

“We have focused on optimising our biogas production to boost productivity at our plants. We’re beginning to see the fruits of our labours, and with a number of new plants under construction, we’re consolidating our position as Denmark’s largest producer of biogas,” says CEO Ole Hvelplund. Nature Energy is in the process of constructing three biogas plants, and has just signed a cooperation agreement to establish two more biogas plants in Sønderborg Municipality. These three plants themselves, which are already under construction, will require a total investment of DKK 650 million.

An important key to the satisfactory interim results is the improvement in contribution margin on the company’s commercial  activities related to trading of natural gas, which has risen by 7% compared to the same period last year. Due in part to this, the company’s EBITDA rose by DKK 12.7 million, bringing EBITDA for the first six months of 2017 to DKK 107.7 milion.

Net interim profit/loss is on a par with the same period last year.

Expectations for 2017

Nature Energy expects a positive overall result for the Nature Energy group in 2017. Regarding the interim results, chairman of the board Jens Otto Dalhøj comments:

“The results for the first half of 2017 are satisfactory, and we can continue to expect a full-year profit of DKK 45–55 million, likely at the upper end of that range. It’s great news that our profit forecast for the year is steady, as this means we can continue our long-term strategy to increase the number of local jobs and the volume of green gas in the gas grid.”

Key results

• Production of biogas increased from 12.8 to 16.6 million m3 (of methane) during the first six months compared to the first six months of 2016.
   
• Net revenue rose from DKK 447.9 million to DKK 551.4 million, corresponding to an increase of 18.7%.
   
• The results for the first half of 2017 show a profit of DKK 36.7 million compared to DKK 37.6 million for the same period in 2016.

About Nature Energy

• Nature Energy is the largest producer of biogas in Denmark. Since the 2012 green Energy Agreement, which facilitated the distribution of upgraded biogas in the gas grid, Nature Energy has established four large-scale biogas plants, and it is in the process of building a further three plants. The company is planning to establish a total of 17 biogas plants in Denmark.
   
• Nature Energy produces biogas from slurry, food waste, etc. This makes the gas sustainable.
   
• Natural gas is extracted from the North Sea and has an adverse impact on carbon emissions. Replacing natural gas with biogas significantly reduces Denmark’s carbon emissions.
   
• 400,000 households use gas from the grid for heating, and gas is used extensively in industry.
   
• Nature Energy currently has 145 employees. In 2012, the company had 80 employees.