Austria: Good Performance from BDI in a Difficult E

BDI's sales amounted to EUR 48.8 million after EUR 53.5 million in the previous year, which means that they decreased - as expected - by EUR 8.7 per cent. 13 projects were being processed in the 3rd quarter of 2008; 6 of them are at the installation/start-up stage. One other plant, which is in the meantime BDI's 22nd plant, was handed over to the customer: the first multi-feedstock plant in Ireland will be producing biodiesel in accordance with the European standard EN 14214 from raw materials consisting of used cooking oil and animal fats. The total orders on hand at BDI amounted to a volume of EUR 38.6 million at the end of September.

BDI succeeded in increasing profitability again in the first nine months of the current fiscal year: earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) amounted to €3.8 million after EUR 2.9 million in the previous year. The EBIT margin was considerably higher than in the previous year (5.5 per cent) at 7.7 per cent. The earnings per share of EUR 0.93 were at the same level as in the previous year.

'Raw material flexibility is becoming more and more important in biodiesel production alongside a guaranteed high yield and quality. About 70 per cent of our customers have therefore opted for our multi-feedstock technology', says Wilhelm Hammer, Chief Executive Officer of BDI - BioDiesel International AG. 'Thanks to the processing of used cooking oil and animal fats, the biodiesel produced by the BDI process already satisfies the tough sustainability requirements that the EU only expects the next generation of biofuels to meet in future.'

'We are continuing to receive very positive responses to our main areas of research into the use of new raw materials - biomass to liquid (BtL) and biodiesel from algae - from industry and the scientific community. We were recently able, for example, to start exclusive co-operation with theDepartment of Marine Biology at Vienna University, in which the Viennese research scientists will be identifying the best type of algae on the basis of the speed of its growth and its fat content. BDI will then be developing the equipment for cultivation and obtainment of the algae oil and for conversion of it into biodiesel. Using algae will not only mean that a new raw material is available with which there is no conflict with food production; the use of CO2 exhaust gases from industrial plants as a source of carbon for algae growth will be playing a role too.'

On the basis of the current orders on hand, BDI confirms its sales and earnings forecast: the Management Board is expecting that the EBIT margin for 2008 as a whole will be better than in 2007 and that it will return
close to the target of 10%. With its successful acquisitions, BDI aims to develop new areas of operation and to position itself as an expert in the manufacturing of plants for comprehensive industrial solutions. This will
enable BDI to distinguish itself from the production companies in the b iodiesel industry in the long term.

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