Jobs at Gevo
by Debra Fiakas CFA Management teams at the helm of public companies often shade the realities of their competitive or strategic situation, alternately painting better circumstances or downplaying declining fortunes. There are myriad ways of giving management’s guidance a reality check. Renewable bio-chemicals developer Gevo, Inc. (GEVO: Nasdaq) is on my “watch list” as one of the more interesting companies in the Beach Boys Index. Gevo’s financial results missed the consensus estimate in both the March and June 2012 quarters, but management made claims of important victories. Gevo has won important decisions in the disagreement...
Biofuels & Biobased Earnings Roundup: Corbion
by Jim Lane
The Top Line. In the Netherlands, Corbion (CRBN.AS; CSNVY) reported H1 2018 sales of € 439.2 million, a decrease of 4.9% compared to H1 2017, entirely due to negative currency effects. Organic sales growth was 3.1%. EBITDA excluding one-off items in H1 2018 decreased by 19.0% to € 71.5 million due to negative currency effects and the inclusion of the Algae Ingredients business. Organic EBITDA excluding one-off items increased by 1.2% in H1 2018.
The Big Highlights. The acquisition of the Algae Ingredients business (TerraVia assets + SB Renewable Oils joint venture) has added an algae fermentation platform to Corbion. In H1 2018,...
5 Minute Guide to BioAmber
Jim Lane A quick overview of BioAmber (BIOA) Company description From the company’s 2013 S-1: “Our proprietary technology platform combines industrial biotechnology, an innovative purification process and chemical catalysis to convert renewable feedstocks into chemicals that are cost-competitive replacements for petroleum-derived chemicals. The development of our current organism was originally funded by the DOE in the late 1990s, was further developed and scaled up, and optimized at the large-scale manufacturing facility in France. “We manufacture our bio-succinic acid in a facility using a commercial scale 350,000 liter fermenter in Pomacle, France…We have produced 487,000 pounds, or 221 metric...
Bion: Waste To Dollars
Earlier this week Bion Environmental Technologies (BNET) received approval of a patent for its proprietary ammonia recovery process. Bion’s technology converts livestock wastes into ammonium bicarbonate. Patent protection in the U.S. paves the way for Bion to deliver an environmentally friendly chemical to the market at attractive profit margins.
Ammonium bicarbonate is used for a variety of purposes from leavening to crop additives. It is the fertilizer market that has caught Bion’s attention. The company intends to ‘close the loop’ for the agricultural sector by helping livestock producers economically dispose of waste and then delivering a fertilizer for food crops that qualifies as organic.
It is an attractive...
BioAmber’s $150 Million IPO: The 10-Minute Version
Jim Lane A first-to-market leader in bio-succinic acid comes to the public markets with its IPO. Can BioAmber translate a lead in succinic acid’s smallish market into leadership in a vast array of high-priced renewable chemicals? Here’s our 10-minute version of the BioAmber IPO, with a translation of the risks into English. In Minnesota, BioAmber has filed an S-1 registration statement for a proposed $150 million initial public offering. The number of shares to be offered in the proposed offering and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined. The lead book-running managers for...
Avantium IPO “Many Times Oversubscribed:” What Buyers Are So Excited About
Jim Lane In France, Avantium completed its highly-anticipated initial public offering, raising $109.5M (€103M) via the sale of 9,401,793 shares at $11.70 (€11) per share, giving the company a market capitalization reaches of $294M (€277M). Trading will begin on March 15th 2017 on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Bruxelles under the symbol AVTX. The Company anticipates to use €65-75 million of the net proceeds of the Offering for the funding of the Joint Venture, enabling it to construct and operate the reference plant for the commercialization of the YXY technology. The company’s first world-scale plant is a 50,000 tons...
Amyris: 90 Days To Build The Future
Jim Lane In California, Amyris (AMRS) reported Q1 revenues of $13.0M compared with $8.8M for Q1 2016, and touted the “significant increase in product sales, primarily in the personal care and health and nutrition markets, offset by a slight decline in collaboration revenue.” Collaboration revenues contributed $4.7M and product sales added $8.3M for the quarter. Big Q1 miss vs analyst expectations As Jeff Osborne at Cowen & Co noted, “Amyris reported revenue of $13.0mn, well below our estimate of $37.1mn due to much lower collaboration payments than we had anticipated. Management has highlighted that these payments can...
Countdown To Codexis’ Day Of Reckoning
It is earnings season and bio-catalyst developer Codexis (CDXS: Nasdaq) is expected to report fourth quarter and year-end 2017 financial results in the coming weeks. The three analysts who regularly publish estimates for the company expect a nickel profit in the quarter on $23 million in total sales of the company’s custom protein catalysts. Codexis is still perfecting its proprietary platform technology called CodeEvolver, but has already delivered an array of unique enzymes that help drive critical biological processes for its customers.
Codexis does not have a good track record in terms of meeting the consensus estimate. The company has only cleared the...
Amyris’ Mysterious Partner
Jim Lane In California, Amyris (AMRS) has a new partner, described fetchingly yet with near-to-complete vagueness as a “a leader in food ingredients and nutraceuticals” which is roughly as helpful as describing a person as “someone who enjoys ice cream”. Some ice cream there is, nevertheless, in this agreement, which will bring a short-term collaboration investment of $10 million, an equity investment of up to $20 million at $1.40 per share, and $100 million in annual revenue starting in 2017 connected to the production and cost improvement of fermentation molecules. One thing, and the only one, we discover...
Two Thumbs Up for Solazyme: AkzoNobel deal, new technology for structured oils
Jim Lane The sector’s perennial hottest company strikes again with “potentially disruptive” new technology to change the positioning and performance of triglyceride oils. In California, Solazyme (SZYM) and AkzoNobel announced an agreement targeting the development of advanced tailored triglyceride oils and commercial sales for near-term product supply. The agreement focuses on supply for the chemical giant’s Surface Chemistry and Decorative Paints businesses. Commercial supply of multi-thousand ton quantities of highly sustainable algal oil is expected to originate from the Solazyme Bunge Renewable Oils Joint Venture oil manufacturing plant in Brazil. Sales of product are anticipated to commence...
Gevo: Are We There Yet?
by Debra Fiakas CFA The renewable chemicals and biofuel company Gevo, Inc. (GEVO: Nasdaq) is scheduled to report fourth quarter 2013 financial results on March 25th. Analysts have a couple of weeks to prepare questions for management during the earnings conference call. Top on the list has to be got to be about Gevo’s recent agreement to license its novel isobutanol technology to Porta Hnos of Argentina. Porta Hnos is a well established ethanol producer so if the license is consummated, it is expected that this partner has the ability to execute on plans to produce isobutanol for...
Gevo’s Glow
Specialty chemicals developer Gevo, Inc. (GEVO: Nasdaq) is celebrating a string of market wins for its renewable chemicals and fuels. Since its beginning thirteen years ago this month, Gevo has been doggedly perfecting its synthetic biology and chemical technologies and turning it into products that are in demand by consumers and industry. Last week shareholders were treated to an announcement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raising the amount of isobutanol for on-road use to 16% blend level from 12.5%. As a producer of renewable isobutanol Gevo will be a direct beneficiary of the EPA action. Following directly on the heels of that news,...
Amyris’ Date With Destiny: Better Late Than Never
Jim Lane Amyris was dismissed by the critics some time ago, but is ately continuing a big comeback. We have become so accustomed to receiving obituaries of Amyris (AMRS) that recently I was inspired to re-read the Devotions of John Donne to discover if, in fact, he wrote, “Send not to know for Whom the Bell Tolls, it Tolls for Amyris.” Amyris, we were recently assured by short-sellers, was as dead as a doornail, just as Jacob Marley was reputed to be in the opening stave of A Christmas Carol and it is therefore...
Mitsui Raises Stake In BioAmber JV
Jim Lane In Canada, Mitsui has invested an additional CDN$25 million in the BioAmber (BIOA) joint venture for 10% of the equity, increasing its stake from 30% to 40%. Mitsui will also play a stronger role in the commercialization of bio-succinic acid produced in Sarnia, providing dedicated resources alongside BioAmber’s commercial team. BioAmber will maintain a 60% controlling stake in the joint venture. “Mitsui is continuously committed to renewable chemistry and through our increased equity stake we will be more actively involved in joint venture management and sales, leveraging our global sales platforms,” said Hidebumi Kasuga, General Manager, Specialty...
Leather Without The Cow
Flokser launches Artificial Leather based on DuPont Tate & Lyle, BioAmber ingredients Jim Lane In Canada, BioAmber (BIOA) announced that the Flokser Group has successfully developed an innovative artificial leather fabric using bio-based materials supplied by DuPont (DD) Tate & Lyle Bio Products and BioAmber. Flokser has launched this new synthetic leather fabric under its SERTEX brand. The novel fabric comprises a polyester polyol made from BioAmber’s Bio-SA bio-based succinic acid and DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products’ Susterra bio-based 1,3-propanediol. Flokser’s artificial leather fabric has 70% renewable content and delivers improved performance. It provides better scratch resistance...
Amryris: Zombie With Attitude
Jim Lane
Zombies with attitude. New partnerships for making magic molecules and exploitin’ the heck out of ’em.
These days, nothing in Hollywood beats a great zombie movie, more than 50 have been released in recent years. Zombies rise from the dead, and change everything around them. It’s not always pretty, or predictable, but they’re a disruptive force.
Well, Amyris (AMRS) is proving to be a zombie story these days starting with being labeled a “zombie company” by The Motley Fool. TMF writes:
Amyris was a pioneering industrial biotech that went from darling of the field to a company now trading well...