Ecoslops, the cleantech company that brings oil into the circular economy, announces its unaudited results for the first half of the current financial year, as of June 30, 2022, as approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting on September 21, 2022.

Revenue of €8.9 million, up 188%.
Positive Group EBITDA of €0.5 million and €1.2 million excluding the Marseille unit, which is currently being ramped up.
In an energy market under pressure, relevance of the business model, more than ever adapted to the needs of energy independence and low carbon production

Operational highlights for the first half of 2022

Doubling of the revenue of the Sines unit in Portugal to €6.8M with a record EBITDA of €2.4M, or 35%
Continued ramp-up of the Marseille unit, which went into production at the end of 2021, with revenues of €1.9m in the first half
Completion of the construction (for delivery in Cameroon) of the first Scarabox, a modular used oil treatment unit

Refined products sales have risen sharply from €2.0m in 2021 to €7.5m in 2022, an increase of 272%. This increase can be analysed as follows:

Sines unit in Portugal : +179%
Marseille unit (scope entry) : + 93%
Activity at the Sines unit was particularly good, with Refined Products sales of €5.6 million, which benefited from a volume effect of +53% and a price/mix effect of 83% (of which 78% related to the rise in Brent and the dollar).

Regarding the Marseille unit (owned 75% by Ecoslops and 25% by TotalEnergies), it is recalled that it was delivered in July 2021 and started production at the end of 2021. Without a comparable basis in the first half of 2021, the unit produced 3,075 tonnes in the first half of 2022 and sold 3,300 tonnes, representing a revenue of €1.9M. The supply channels and the development of the customer portfolio are now well established and will allow the unit to continue to ramp up.

The gross margin rate on the Refined Products business has also improved from 55% in H1 2021 to 60% in H1 2022.

Finally, the construction of the first Scarabox (destined for Kribi in Cameroon, on behalf of Valtech Energy) was completed in the first half of 2022, allowing the recognition of €0.3M of revenue (100% completion vs 93% at 31 December 2021). The unit is ready to be shipped at the end of September 2022, pending the completion of the integration work carried out by Valtech Energy on its operating site.

With regard to operational costs, personnel costs are stable at €1.8M, while external costs have increased by €1.4M, of which €1.3M is attributable to the start of operations at the Marseille unit. For the same reason, depreciation and amortisation expenses doubled compared to 2021.

The financial result amounts to -0.7M€, of which 0.5M€ corresponds to accrued interest on the EIB loan.

The corporate income tax represents an income of €0.2M and is mainly composed of a tax income of €0.2M related to the research tax credit.

Operating cashflow was €1.9m thanks to a positive change in working capital of the same amount (linked in particular to the receipt in January 2022 of the first payment linked to the sale of the Scarabox in Cameroon).

Cashflow from investments amounted to -1.4M€, and includes, in addition to the recurring investments related to the two P2R units, 0.6M€ of equity investment in the company Valtech Energy.

At last, operations related to financing resulted in a net disbursement of €0.5M, including €1.2M of interests paid on loans (mainly the EIB) and €0.8M of advance on subsidies. Concerning the latter, it should be noted that the subsidiary Koleoptech has been awarded a €3.4m investment subsidy, under an AAP (“Appel A Projet”) launched by the French Government in June 2021, for the industrialisation of the Scarabox. Koleoptech received an advance of 25% of this grant in early 2022. At the date of closing of the half-yearly accounts, this investment programme is still at the project stage, subject to modifications and adjustments made necessary by operational realities. For this reason, and in order not to distort the calculation of the group’s net debt, this amount has been recorded under financial liabilities.

Developments

During the first half of the year, the group focused its efforts on the P2R project in Antwerp, located on the site of a recently closed refinery owned by the VTTI/VITOL group.

In addition, discussions are being actively pursued with the Suez Canal Authority for the implementation of a Port Reception Facility (PRF) and a Scarabox. The holding of the COP 27 in November 2022 in Egypt is a driving force behind the discussions.

As far as the Scarabox is concerned, it meets the needs of many developing countries in every respect, and the production start-up of the first unit in Cameroon will be the trigger for new orders. As a sign of the relevance of the Scarabox in these countries looking for environmental and energy solutions, Valtech Energy signed during the first half of the year a contract to collect used oil from the TotalEnergies Cameroon service station network.

Perspectives

For the Sines and Marseille units, the group is maintaining its production forecasts for 2022 of 25,000 and 10,000 tonnes respectively, which in terms of profitability, and in the current market context, should result in a second half-year in line with that of the first half.
Source: Ecoslops