ASX-listed environmental services company CO2 Group says it is well placed for opportunities arising out of the government's carbon pricing regime, with plenty of cash and after posting a record full year net profit of $1.5 million for the full year ended 30 September 2011 – a $4.8 million turnaround in profit performance, after a loss of $3.34 million for the previous reporting period (although it extending its reporting period, thus effectively adding another quarter to earnings). Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was $2.2 million. The company also reported record revenue of $35 million, due to increased demand for carbon forest projects and a push innto broader environmental and financial services – including forestry mapping and consulting services and site rehabilitation activities – but most notably through the launch of the carbon credits and renewable energy certificates trading business Carbon Banc.
CO2 also successfully expanded the company’s carbon sequestration operations with new projects in Australia and NZ. The company now has a total of 22,300 hectares of plantings being managed on behalf of clients, up from 17,900 hectares last year. CO2 chief Andrew Grant described this year as being “transformational” for the company, cementing its position as the leading Australian carbon and environmental services business. And he also pointed out that CO2’s growth was achieved prior to the passage of the federal government’s carbon pricing legislation. “Our growth to date has been driven by servicing the needs of governments and blue chip organisations to assist them achieve their carbon offset strategies,” Grant said.
“Our revenue growth is particularly encouraging. This, and the conversion of listed options into shares this month, means CO2 now has cash on hand of $35 million and no debt. This places us in a very strong position and gives us the flexibility to invest in our growth," he said. “We have an active pipeline of new business opportunities across all our service lines, carbon plantings will definitely expand and we are reviewing other growth opportunities and potential acquisitions that complement CO2’s operations. With over 500 large carbon emitters in Australia looking at carbon offset strategies, we are very well placed to tap what is now a large, proven and established industry.”
Ceramic selling
Ceramic Fuel Cells has received a new order for 105 of its fuel cell units from leading power and gas company E.ON, as part of a combined effort to launch integrated power and heating products for the UK market. New agreements have been signed with E.ON covering both Ceramic’s BlueGen modular generator and the micro combined heat and power unit in development, both of which use the company's Gennex fuel cell module as its core technology. E.ON has ordered 41 BlueGen electricity generators to be deployed under the European Union Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking’s Joint Technology Initiative (“JTI”) fuel cell demonstration programme. The JTI project partners are E.ON, CFCL, UK heating company Ideal Boilers Ltd, and HOMA Software of the Netherlands. Under the JTI project, the BlueGen units will be installed in homes and other buildings in the UK, Germany and The Netherlands, during early 2012. An additional four BlueGen units will be deployed by E.ON in demonstration and commercial customer sites.
Ceramic says its BlueGen technology is the first and only fuel cell product to receive Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certification and be eligible for the national feed-in tariff, which provides 10.5 pence per kilowatt hour of electricity generated, plus an additional 3.1 pence per kilowatt hour of electricity exported to the grid. BlueGen customers are also eligible for a feed-in tariff in Germany and the Netherlands. Ceramic is also working with Ideal Boilers to develop products that provide power, hot water and home heating, with two prototype units built for testing during the 2011/12 heating season. Under the JTI project, Ideal and CFCL will develop up to 60 integrated units, to be installed in homes in the UK, Benelux and Germany from late 2012. These integrated units will be manufactured by Ideal in the UK. Unlike BlueGen, these will provide home heating, and will be targeted at the market for replacement home boilers, which in the UK alone comprises 1.6 million units per year.
Agriculture assist
The federal government announced on Monday the establishment of the independent Land Sector Carbon and Biodiversity Board, established as part of the government’s Clean Energy Future Plan. The Board, which will be chaired by former NSW Environment Minister Bob Debus, will advise government on a range of measures aimed at increasing the land sector’s resilience to climate change and improve long-term farm productivity. The measures will also assist landholders and regional communities to benefit from the carbon market and offset programs, and the sequestration of carbon in soil, living biomass or organic matter. The Board will also advise government on the implementation of the Land Sector Package, which includes the Biodiversity Fund; the Carbon Farming Futures Fund; the Indigenous Carbon Farming Fund; Regional Natural Resource Management Planning for Climate Change Fund; the Non-Kyoto Carbon Fund; and the Carbon Farming Skills program.
The government plans to invest $1.7 billion in the package of programs over the next six years, and says it represents an unprecedented opportunity for landholders, including Indigenous communities, to participate in these activities. Members of the Land Sector Carbon and Biodiversity Board are jointly appointed by Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Tony Burke and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Joe Ludwig.
Clean power watching
Bloomberg New Energy Finance has joined forces with NYSE Euronext to launch three regionally-focused clean energy stock indices, which will track the listed companies that are active in the burgeoning low-carbon energy market. The indices, covering the Americas; the Europe, Middle East and Africa region; and Asia and Oceania – are the first of a new family of clean energy indices that the partners will start publishing over the next few months, with plans for an index tracking solar companies’ shares; another tracking wind company stocks; another for clean technologies such as efficiency, storage and smart grid; and another tracking the shares of companies involved in EV development. The three regional indices, launched Tuesday, will each follow a basket of between 125 and 325 companies with a moderate, or greater, exposure to renewable energy and energy-smart technologies.
“The new indices provide a solid foundation for tracking the regional exposures by domicile for clean energy initiatives while accurately weighting each company’s economic exposure to their respective sector,” said George Patterson, managing director European indices at NYSE Euronext Global Index Group. Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said the new indices filled an information gap. “There is a need for more detail, particularly about the differing growth prospects for clean energy companies in regions of the world. Asia for instance has taken over as the most dynamic area for clean energy investment, while the Americas are playing host to entrepreneurial effort in first- and second-generation biofuels and a take-off in wind development in Latin America."
ASX-listed environmental services company CO2 Group says it is well placed for opportunities arising out of the government's carbon pricing regime, with plenty of cash and after posting a record full year net profit of $1.5 million for the full year ended 30 September 2011 – a $4.8 million turnaround in profit performance, after a loss of $3.34 million for the previous reporting period (although it extending its reporting period, thus effectively adding another quarter to earnings). Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was $2.2 million. The company also reported record revenue of $35 million, due to increased demand for carbon forest projects and a push innto broader environmental and financial services – including forestry mapping and consulting services and site rehabilitation activities – but most notably through the launch of the carbon credits and renewable energy certificates trading business Carbon Banc.
CO2 also successfully expanded the company’s carbon sequestration operations with new projects in Australia and NZ. The company now has a total of 22,300 hectares of plantings being managed on behalf of clients, up from 17,900 hectares last year. CO2 chief Andrew Grant described this year as being “transformational” for the company, cementing its position as the leading Australian carbon and environmental services business. And he also pointed out that CO2’s growth was achieved prior to the passage of the federal government’s carbon pricing legislation. “Our growth to date has been driven by servicing the needs of governments and blue chip organisations to assist them achieve their carbon offset strategies,” Grant said.
“Our revenue growth is particularly encouraging. This, and the conversion of listed options into shares this month, means CO2 now has cash on hand of $35 million and no debt. This places us in a very strong position and gives us the flexibility to invest in our growth," he said. “We have an active pipeline of new business opportunities across all our service lines, carbon plantings will definitely expand and we are reviewing other growth opportunities and potential acquisitions that complement CO2’s operations. With over 500 large carbon emitters in Australia looking at carbon offset strategies, we are very well placed to tap what is now a large, proven and established industry.”
Ceramic selling
Ceramic Fuel Cells has received a new order for 105 of its fuel cell units from leading power and gas company E.ON, as part of a combined effort to launch integrated power and heating products for the UK market. New agreements have been signed with E.ON covering both Ceramic’s BlueGen modular generator and the micro combined heat and power unit in development, both of which use the company's Gennex fuel cell module as its core technology. E.ON has ordered 41 BlueGen electricity generators to be deployed under the European Union Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking’s Joint Technology Initiative (“JTI”) fuel cell demonstration programme. The JTI project partners are E.ON, CFCL, UK heating company Ideal Boilers Ltd, and HOMA Software of the Netherlands. Under the JTI project, the BlueGen units will be installed in homes and other buildings in the UK, Germany and The Netherlands, during early 2012. An additional four BlueGen units will be deployed by E.ON in demonstration and commercial customer sites.
Ceramic says its BlueGen technology is the first and only fuel cell product to receive Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certification and be eligible for the national feed-in tariff, which provides 10.5 pence per kilowatt hour of electricity generated, plus an additional 3.1 pence per kilowatt hour of electricity exported to the grid. BlueGen customers are also eligible for a feed-in tariff in Germany and the Netherlands. Ceramic is also working with Ideal Boilers to develop products that provide power, hot water and home heating, with two prototype units built for testing during the 2011/12 heating season. Under the JTI project, Ideal and CFCL will develop up to 60 integrated units, to be installed in homes in the UK, Benelux and Germany from late 2012. These integrated units will be manufactured by Ideal in the UK. Unlike BlueGen, these will provide home heating, and will be targeted at the market for replacement home boilers, which in the UK alone comprises 1.6 million units per year.
Agriculture assist
The federal government announced on Monday the establishment of the independent Land Sector Carbon and Biodiversity Board, established as part of the government’s Clean Energy Future Plan. The Board, which will be chaired by former NSW Environment Minister Bob Debus, will advise government on a range of measures aimed at increasing the land sector’s resilience to climate change and improve long-term farm productivity. The measures will also assist landholders and regional communities to benefit from the carbon market and offset programs, and the sequestration of carbon in soil, living biomass or organic matter. The Board will also advise government on the implementation of the Land Sector Package, which includes the Biodiversity Fund; the Carbon Farming Futures Fund; the Indigenous Carbon Farming Fund; Regional Natural Resource Management Planning for Climate Change Fund; the Non-Kyoto Carbon Fund; and the Carbon Farming Skills program.
The government plans to invest $1.7 billion in the package of programs over the next six years, and says it represents an unprecedented opportunity for landholders, including Indigenous communities, to participate in these activities. Members of the Land Sector Carbon and Biodiversity Board are jointly appointed by Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Tony Burke and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Joe Ludwig.
Clean power watching
Bloomberg New Energy Finance has joined forces with NYSE Euronext to launch three regionally-focused clean energy stock indices, which will track the listed companies that are active in the burgeoning low-carbon energy market. The indices, covering the Americas; the Europe, Middle East and Africa region; and Asia and Oceania – are the first of a new family of clean energy indices that the partners will start publishing over the next few months, with plans for an index tracking solar companies’ shares; another tracking wind company stocks; another for clean technologies such as efficiency, storage and smart grid; and another tracking the shares of companies involved in EV development. The three regional indices, launched Tuesday, will each follow a basket of between 125 and 325 companies with a moderate, or greater, exposure to renewable energy and energy-smart technologies.
“The new indices provide a solid foundation for tracking the regional exposures by domicile for clean energy initiatives while accurately weighting each company’s economic exposure to their respective sector,” said George Patterson, managing director European indices at NYSE Euronext Global Index Group. Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said the new indices filled an information gap. “There is a need for more detail, particularly about the differing growth prospects for clean energy companies in regions of the world. Asia for instance has taken over as the most dynamic area for clean energy investment, while the Americas are playing host to entrepreneurial effort in first- and second-generation biofuels and a take-off in wind development in Latin America."