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,...
List of Biochemicals Stocks
Biochemicals stocks are publicly traded companies whose business involves using plant or animal based feedstocks (biomass) to create new chemicals or substitutes of existing petrochemicals, plastics, or other fossil fuel derived substances other than fuels.
Amyris (AMRS)
BioAmber (BIOA)
Bion Environmental Technologies (BNET)
Codexis (CDXS)
Corbion (CRBN.AS; CSNVY)
Eastman Chemical Company (EMN)
Global Bioenergies (ALGBE: EURONEXT)
Novozymes (Copenhagen:NZYM-B; OTC:NVZMY)
Royal DSM (DSM.AS; KDSKF; RDSMY)
SECOS Group (SES.AX)
If you know of any biochemicals stock that is not listed here and should be, please let us know by leaving a comment. Also for stocks in the list that you think should be removed.
Can Amyris Find The Ingredients Of Success?
In late August 2018, sustainable ingredients developer Amyris (AMRS: Nasdaq) staged a successful secondary offering by a selling stockholders, Foris Ventures and Vivo Capital Fund. In conjunction with the offering the company raised $46.0 million in new capital through the exercise of warrants held by existing shareholders. Last week the shares closed over 40% higher than the $6.25 deal price. The chief executive officer lauded shareholders for their support and apparent endorsement of the company’s game plan to commercialize sustainable alternatives to petroleum-sourced materials used in fragrance, health and beauty products.
Amyris leadership should celebrate its loyal shareholders given how far the company drifted...
Solazyme Launches Biodegradable Encapsulated Lubricant For Drilling Market
Jim Lane Enters oil & gas drilling market with world’s first encapsulated lubricant. Solazyme: “Targeted delivery technology provides improved performance and sustainability.” In California, Solazyme (SZYM) announced its entry into the oil and gas drilling fluids additive market. Building upon its proprietary platform of high performance, sustainable Tailored oils, Solazyme has introduced Encapso, the world’s first encapsulated biodegradable lubricant for drilling fluids designed to deliver high-grade lubricant precisely at the point of friction where and when needed most. At the same time, the company announced its intent to offer $100M in aggregate principal notes due in 2019 and...
Beets to Gas
by Debra Fiakas, CFA
In recent weeks management from Global Bioenergies (ALGBE: EURONEXT)made the rounds among New York City investors. The French specialty chemical developer is trying to win new friends in the U.S. for its bio-isobutene made through the fermentation of organic materials. Isobutene, also called isobutylene, is a four-molecule hydrocarbon that is a foundational chemical in a wide range of common products from gasoline additives to cosmetics. Until recently, isobutene was made exclusively in the crude oil refinement process. It is one of the many by-products of crude oil refining that helps pad the profit margins of big oil...
A Decade Of Unexpected Curves In The Bioeconomy
By Jim Lane
Over the years we’ve all seen a lot of curveballs in the advanced bioeconomy. You see companies like Valero, which lobby the United States Congress with unbridled intensity to get rid of the Renewable Fuel Standard, on the verge of becoming the single-biggest producer of RINs in the United States (with news that they might take capacity at Diamond Green Diesel up to 540 million gallons).
You see companies like Solazyme which love the Renewable Fuel Standard and drive up to nearly a billion-dollar post-IPO valuation based on delivering fuels at volume, then announcing that there are even...
More Gevolution
Jim Lane The results from Gevo’s (GEVO) 4th quarter are in, and a worth a look-see, not only for fans of isobutanol and its prospects. Also for a look at how this member of the 2010-12 IPO group of companies is crossing the multiple Valleys of Death that have arrayed before it. In the fourth quarter of 2014, Gevo continued to progress the commercial operation of isobutanol at Luverne under the Side-by-Side mode of production (SBS), meeting its stated milestone in December 2014 of producing greater than 50K gallons of isobutanol in one month. This achievement, Gevo notes,...
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...
The Velocity of Amyris
Jim Lane What makes Amyris (AMRS), Amyris? We look at the products, the evolution of the story, the partners, the focus on yield, and deeper into the story of Rate. “I mean, man, whither goest thou? Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?” “Whither goest thou?” echoed Dean with his mouth open. We sat and didn’t know what to say; there was nothing to talk about any more. The only thing to do was go.” Jack Kerouac, On the Road Amyris experienced last month what CEO John Melo referred to as “our...
Amber Means Caution But BioAmber Means Go
Jim Lane In Canada, BioAmber (BIOA) recorded net income of $4.8M for Q2 2016 and an operating loss of $1.0M on revenues of $2.5M. Revenues were up 73 percent over Q1 and 637 percent compared to Q2 2015. For those less familiar with the company, it produces succinic acid from sugar at a first commercial-scale plant which opened recently in Sarnia, Ontario. Succinic acid has a small existing global market but can be converted into a variety of chemical building blocks used to produce a range of plastics, paints, textiles, food additives and personal care products. If for...
TerraVia: No Going Back
Jim Lane At the outset of his historic Conquest, Cortés gathered the men and burned the boats. As TerraVia jettisons its break-out industrial product line and completes the pivot to Food, what lies ahead in the New World? Gromeko: They’ve shot the Czar. And all his family. Oh, that’s a savage deed. What’s it for? Zhivago: It’s to show there’s no going back. Dr. Zhivago In California, TerraVia (TVIA) recorded a loss of $27.4M for Q2 2016 on revenues of $9.9M as the company made milestone announcements in its transition from industrials to nutrition including...
Ramp-Up Delay Sends Solazyme Stock Into Free-Fall
Jim Lane Revenue and customer numbers are up at Solazyme (SZYM), 60% YOY growth from Q3 2013 to Q3 2014. But a slowdown in the rollout at Moema capacity leads to a spectacular 58% one-day drop in the stock price. What happened? Solazyme has been on a relatively steady downward trajectory for the past few quarters, dropping from the $11-$13 range and down into the $6-$8 range. And then plunged a stunning 58 percent to $3.14 yesterday – amidst downgrades by Cowen & Company, Pacific Crest and Baird generally to Market Perform or Neutral, and remains...
Amyris Boards The Sweet Fleet
Jim Lane Back in September 2015, we reported that Amyris inked a multi-year agreement with the US Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, the famed DARPA that gave us everything from kevlar to the Global Positioning System and the Internet the goal in this $35M agreement with the Biological Technologies Office was to create new research and development tools and technologies compressing the time to market for any new molecule by at least 10-fold in both time and cost. The story expanded this week when we heard from Amyris (AMRS) that it had completed strain engineering and...
BioAmber Launching Asian Joint Venture
Amber Waves of Gain In South Korea, BioAmber (BIOA) and CJ CheilJedang Corporation signed a LOI for a joint venture in China to produce up to 36,000 metric tons of bio-succinic acid per year. It’s not a greenfield. The CJCJ JV involves a retrofit of an existing fermentation plant in a market that BioAmber cannot readily penetrate today. How is BioAmber able to convert this plant? It comes down to a low pH yeast, which allows us to leverage CJCJ’s existing fermenters and purification equipment. The retrofit will allow the partners to bring this capacity on line quickly,...
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...
Investing in Biopolymers
Last month Eastman Chemical Company (EMN: NYSE) announced an expansion of its urethane extrusion line at one of its specialty chemical plants. This one located near Martinsville, Virginia makes paint protection films and window films. Urethane is perfect to protect surfaces in a home or business. It is not brittle like plastic, but has excellent tolerance for grease and oils. When exposed to the elements it does not rot or degrade over time like rubber.
Shareholders likely cheered the development in Virginia for potential addition to market share. Eastman grabbed $9.6 billion in sales from the specialty chemicals market in 2017, earning $1.4 billion in net income or...