LEIPZIG (dpa-AFX) - After a weak third quarter, biofuel producer Verbio must hope for a recovery by the middle of the year. As expected, the downward trend from the second quarter could not yet be reversed, the company announced in Leipzig on Tuesday. Verbio sees the reason for this in the lower average product margins and the low premiums for ethanol and greenhouse gas reduction (GHG) in new contracts. The Management Board now assumes that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the financial year (to the end of June) will be at the lower end of the previously announced range of EUR 120 to 150 million. This implies a significant increase in operating profit in the final quarter, it said.

In the third quarter (to the end of March), turnover fell by 8 percent to a good 409 million euros. However, the operating result (EBITDA) plummeted by 83 percent to 7.3 million euros. According to Verbio, this was also due to increased personnel costs and hedging transactions in the biodiesel segment./lew/stk