Gevo announces loss in 3Q 2015

Biofuels producer cites lower values for its key products.

  • November 6, 2015
  • REW Staff

Gevo Inc., Englewood, Colorado, has announced financial results for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2015, that include a gross loss of $2.6 million “After deducting $1.4 million of depreciation expense, the non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) cash gross loss was $1.2 million for the third quarter of 2015,” states the company.

Gevo develops technologies related to renewable fuels, chemical products and biofuels company. One form of technology developed by the company uses a combination of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, chemistry and chemical engineering to focus on the production of isobutanol and related products from renewable feedstocks, including scrap wood. One project has focused specifically on converting scrap wood to jet fuel.

Revenue for the third quarter of 2015 was $8.0 million compared with $10.1 million in the same period in 2014. Revenues derived at Gevo’s Luverne, Minnesota, plant was $7.6 million, a decrease of $1.6 million from the same period in 2014. “This decrease was primarily a result of lower ethanol prices,” says Gevo in the news release accompanying its earnings announcement.

During the third quarter of 2015, hydrocarbon revenues were $0.2 million, a decrease of $0.6 million from the same period in 2014. The company cites “a temporary halt in production at Gevo’s demonstration plant located in Silsbee, Texas, while the contract with South Hampton Resources Inc., the operator of the plant, was being renegotiated,” as the reason.

Gevo also generated revenue of $0.3 million during the third quarter of 2015 associated with what it calls “ongoing research agreements.”

Cost of goods sold decreased by $1.1 million during the three months ended Sept. 30, 2015, compared with the same quarter in 2014, “due primarily to decreases in repairs and maintenance of $0.4 million, as well as a decrease in other production costs at the Luverne plant” says the company.

In other developments, Gevo says it settled a patent dispute in the third quarter and also has announced a near-term plan to deploy capital in an effort to significantly lower the cost of production of isobutanol at the Luverne plant.

“The markets for isobutanol and its downstream hydrocarbon products continue to develop,” states the company. “Isobutanol was successfully launched at retail pumps for both the marine and off-road markets in the third quarter of 2015.”

Gevo also has announced a collaboration with ValvTect , Northbrook, Illinois, to access the network of more than 700 marinas in the U.S. served by ValvTect.