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Ecoslops, a technology company that upgrades ship-generated hydrocarbon residue, or 'slops', into new fuels and light bitumen, has revealed that revenue for the first half (H1) of 2017 almost doubled compared to last year.

In its financial results for H1, released on Wednesday, the France-headquartered firm said revenue was EUR 2.939 million, up 1.383 million, or 88.9 percent, year-on-year (YoY).

Ecoslops noted that this was mainly due to the sale of 100 percent of its production to new customers gained last year and the "excellent performance" of its Sines micro-refinery unit (P2R) during the period.

Refined product sales of EUR 1.8 million in H1 made up 60 percent of total revenue compared to EUR 1.0 million, or 30 percent, last year.

In terms of sales volume, 9,700 tonnes were sold by the firm in H1 compared to 3,700 tonnes last year, whilst there was also an increase in the average selling price per tonne.

During H1, operating expenses declined in Portugal as a result of stronger utilization of local slops (instead of imported), and a decrease in staff costs. Ecoslops said productivity efforts led to a 25 percent reduction of other fixed staff costs.

Group earnings before interest taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came in at a loss of EUR 74,000, which was a EUR 1.8 million improvement on last year.

In Portugal, Ecoslops recorded its first positive EBITDA in H1 at EUR 919,000, which was up EUR 2.085 million, whilst the French holding business, which bears development, engineering and design, and finance expenses, contributed a EUR 993,000 loss.

At the end of June 2017, the company had a cash position of EUR 4.5 million, which was up from EUR 4.3 million at the end of 2016.

During H1, Ecoslops also contracted EUR 1 million in new medium-term bank loans and benefited from the exercise of EUR 226,000 bonds into new shares.

Commenting on the results, Vincent Favier, chairman and CEO of Ecoslops, said: "The performance achieved during this half year validated our strategy and particularly the relevance of our process and the quality of our products. Coupled with ongoing efforts initiated last year to reduce costs, the strong increase in sales enables us to report the profitability of our Portugal subsidiary, less than two years after the starting of the industrial unit.

"Projects in our portfolio are progressing as planned (Marseilles and Antwerp essentially) and the mini-P2R is opening new opportunities regarding mid-size ports. Ecoslops now has every reason to consider the future with confidence, with our unique knowledge and expertise in conjunction with the achievements that we have delivered in the sector."

Board meeting

At the meeting of its board of directors on September 26, the granting of 50,000 free shares to senior executives was approved, which was validated based on performance-related conditions being met.

The share capital has been consequently raised from EUR 3,948,394 to EUR 3,998,394, and is now divided into 3,998,394 ordinary shares and voting rights.

Projects in H1

Mini-P2R

As previously reported, Ecoslops has launched technical and economic studies of a new concept: the 'mini-P2R' - a reduced-sized unit designed to treat 4,000 to 8,000 tonnes per year and said to be specifically suitable for medium-sized ports.

This business line is designed to allow Ecoslops to capitalize on the expertise accumulated with the P2R, which has a capacity of 30,000 tonnes or more, while generating regular revenues (in equipment sales and technical assistance) and proving less capital intensive.

Antwerp

In June, Ecoslops signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Antwerp Terminal and Processing Company (ATPC), a subsidiary of VTTI, to establish a micro-refinery unit in Antwerp with a minimum capacity to treat 60,000 tonnes per year and enable the regeneration of collected residues in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region by local slops collectors.

Egypt

Ecoslops signed in March a letter of intent with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), through one of its subsidiaries, SSCO, to jointly explore the feasibility of creating an oil residue collection and recycling plant in the Suez Canal region. The feasibility study is still ongoing, the company said on Wednesday.

Galp

Ecoslops also recently signed a long-term agreement with Portuguese energy firm Galp for the supply of refined slops to Galp's Sines Refinery. Two deliveries were already completed in August.

MSC

Ecloslops also confirmed on Wednesday that its agreement with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) to utilize slops from the boxship transportation giant's vessels has been renewed.

Image: Ecoslops' refinery at the port of Sines, Portugal. Credit: Ecoslops.