VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG

Earnings Release • Mar 19, 2008

News Details

Ad-hoc | 19 March 2008 08:57

VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG: preliminary annual financial statements for fiscal 2007 marked by special non-cash item in Bioethanol – Good liquidity and financial position

VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG / Preliminary Results

Release of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by
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The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Leipzig/Zörbig, 19 March 2008 – VERBIO generated preliminary sales of EUR
408.0 million in 2007 (2006: EUR 446.2 million*). Its preliminary
consolidated operating result (EBIT) after special items amounted to EUR
-254.5 million (2006: EUR 44.1 million*), the preliminary consolidated
result before tax totalled EUR -256.7 million (2006: EUR 38.8 million*).

The Group’s earnings are burdened by earnings of EUR -264.2 million
resulting from the Bioethanol segment, including non-recurring and non-cash
depreciations in the Bioethanol segment of EUR -254.0 million. These
depreciations consist mainly of goodwill amortization totalling EUR 113.7
million, depreciation of property, plant and equipment totalling EUR 112.2
million and depreciation of grain and customer relationships (EUR 19.9
million). As a consequence the adjusted assets were written down to
residual value.

With those depreciations the Management Board of VERBIO Vereinigte
BioEnergie AG has drawn the consequences from the current market
development and achieves additional operating scope to compete in the
current fiscal year.

Positive preliminary operating result before special items in Biodiesel and
Energy segment
With sales of EUR 306.7 million (2006: EUR 320.0 million*) and an operating
result before special items of EUR 13.2 million (2006: EUR 48.5 million*)
the segments Biodiesel and Energy contribute positively to the consolidated
operating result.

Good liquidity position not affected by one-off expenses
Cash and cash equivalents amounted to EUR approx. 84.8 million. Total
assets amounted to EUR 542.6 million and equity to EUR 321.8 million.
VERBIO’s equity ratio therefore remained high at 59.3%. Equity is thus
approx. 3.5 times higher than the company’s current stock-market value.

Outlook
At the press conference on annual results on 3 April, VERBIO’s Management
Board will present its operative catalogue of measures and strategic
cornerstones aimed to raise profitability. Existing forward contracts in
the Bioethanol segment which haven’t impacted earnings by 31 December 2007,
could lead to single-digit million euro losses. The utilization of
Biodiesel capacities was over 90% during the first two months – with
further stable demand.

* IFRS consolidated annual financial statement for abbreviated fiscal year
01.07.-31.12.2006 cumulative with IFRS consolidated pro forma financial
information 01.01.-30.06.2006

Information on VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG
The VERBIO Group is one of the leading producers and suppliers of biofuels
and also the only industrial-scale producer of biodiesel and bioethanol in
Europe. Nominal capacity currently amounts to around 450,000 tons of
biodiesel and 300,000 tons of bioethanol per year. The company has
developed its own processes and innovative technologies for the production
of biodiesel and bioethanol. It supplies its products directly to European
mineral oil corporations, mineral oil traders, independent gas stations and
haulage companies. VERBIO AG also markets high-quality pharmaglycerin for
the consumer goods and cosmetic industries (glycerin is a by-product of
biodiesel production). Within the Group, VERBIO AG acts as the management
holding company. The Group’s operating business is run by its subsidiaries:
VERBIO Diesel Bitterfeld GmbH & Co. KG, VERBIO Diesel Schwedt GmbH & Co.
KG, VERBIO Ethanol Zörbig GmbH & Co. KG, VERBIO Ethanol Schwedt GmbH & Co.
KG and VERBIO STS AG.

Important Note
This ad hoc announcement contains forward-looking statements, which are
based on assumptions and estimates of the company management of VERBIO
Vereinigte BioEnergie AG. Even though the company management believes that
these assumptions and estimates are correct, the actual future development
and actual future results can deviate substantially from these assumptions
and estimates due to many factors. For example, these factors can include
alteration of the economic situation, legal and regulatory constraints in
Germany and the EU, and changes in the industry. VERBIO assumes no
liability and provides no warranty that future developments and actual
future results will agree with the assumptions and estimates expressed in
this ad hoc announcement.

VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG
Alexandra Mühr
Investor Relations
Humboldtstraße 18
04105 Leipzig, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 341 30 85 30 85
Fax: +49 (0) 341 30 85 30 99
E-Mail: ir@verbio.de

19.03.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

Language: English
Issuer: VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG
Humboldtstraße 18
04105 Leipzig
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)341 30 85 30 90
Fax: +49 (0)341 30 85 30 99
E-mail: ir@verbio.de
Internet: www.verbio.de
ISIN: DE000A0JL9W6
WKN: A0JL9W
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Berlin, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, München

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