EQS-News: Verbio SE: Solid start in Q1 2025/26; forecast for 2025/26 confirmed

Solid start in Q1 2025/26; forecast for 2025/26 confirmed

• Q1 2025/26 EBITDA exceeds comparable figures for the previous year and previous quarter
• Outlook for FY 2025/26 confirmed: current market recovery strengthens forecast

Leipzig, November 12, 2025 – Verbio has started the new financial year with a strong earnings performance. Verbio’s earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were EUR 15.4 million (Q1 2024/25: EUR -6.6 million; Q4 2024/25: EUR -8.2 million).

The significant year-on-year increase was driven by the main Bioethanol/Biomethane and Biodiesel segments, partly due to higher revenues from co-products. Changes in the values of financial assets due to the weak US dollar and changes in the fair values of open commodity forward contracts had a negative impact on earnings in the first quarter of the financial year 2024/25.

The growth compared to Q4 2024/25 was mainly due to a positive development in the Bioethanol/Biomethane segment, favoured by improved spreads¹ in Europe and North America and the absence of non-recurring charges.

The Group result before interest and taxes (EBIT) totalled EUR 0.1 million (Q1 2024/25: EUR -21.5 million). The net result for the period amounted to EUR -4.0 million (Q1 2024/25: EUR -22.9 million). Based on the result for the period, earnings per share are EUR -0.06 (Q1 2024/25: EUR -0.36).

Verbio invested EUR 18.7 million in property, plant and equipment in the first quarter (Q1 2024/25: EUR 25.9 million). These primarily represented investments in plant and equipment for the production of speciality chemicals from rapeseed oil methyl ester (biodiesel) in Germany and the plant in South Bend (IN, USA).

Net financial debt at September 30, 2025 totalled EUR 203.8 million (June 30, 2025: EUR 164.0 million) and the equity ratio was 57.9 percent (June 30, 2025: 58.2 percent). The development of net financial debt corresponds to the planned temporary cash outflows due to the change in inventories and the investment programme.

Positive momentum in both main segments; Biodiesel segment provides stable support

In the Biodiesel segment Verbio generated revenue of EUR 244.1 million in the first quarter of the financial year 2025/26 (Q1 2024/25: EUR 197.1 million). Revenue trends were primarily driven by higher biodiesel prices and sales revenues for co-products, while production volumes remained stable. In addition, in the same period of the previous year the sales volumes in Canada were still recognised as contract processing consistent with the terms of the contractual arrangements. As a result of the restructuring of the contracts there are no longer any contract processing arrangements meaning that there has been an increase in revenue and the costs of raw material and consumables used with no effect on EBITDA.

EBITDA amounted to EUR 22.6 million in the first quarter of 2025/26, following EUR 15.4 million in the first quarter of 2024/25 and EUR 20.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2024/25. The increase in EBITDA was primarily due to an improved gross margin.

An increase in revenue was recorded in the Bioethanol/Biomethane segment as a result of increases in production and sales volumes together with a recovery in the demand for GHG quotas (Q1 2025/26: EUR 191.2 million; Q1 2024/25: EUR 157.5 million). The production volumes of bioethanol in Europe fell in comparison with the previous quarter (Q4 2024/25 revenues: EUR 186.1 million) due to maintenance work. Revenue nevertheless increased due to higher Ethanol prices.

The segment EBITDA in the first quarter amounted to EUR -9.5 million, compared to EUR -21.5 million in the first quarter of 2024/25 and EUR -26.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024/25. The significant increase in earnings is primarily due to the positive development in North America. Below the gross margin, there were effects on earnings from non-recurrence of extraordinary expenses in a quarter-on-quarter comparison, as well as negative effects from changes in the value of financial assets due to the weak US dollar and changes in the fair value of open commodity forward contracts compared to the previous year.

The Other segment, which includes Verbio’s logistics and trading activities, reported an EBITDA of EUR 2.3 million (Q1 2024/25: EUR -0.4 million; Q4 2024/25: EUR -2.7 million) reflecting in particular the positive development of commodity forward contracts.

Forecast confirmed: market environment recovers

Verbio confirms the forecast communicated with the publication of the annual report on September 25, 2025: The Management Board expects to achieve EBITDA in the high double-digit million range in the financial year 2025/26. The board bases this on historical market spreads¹ that are below the spreads achieved in the financial year 2024/25, while it expects GHG quota prices to recover compared to the previous year. The improved result and lower investments are expected to lead to a moderate reduction in net financial debt compared with the previous year. In view of the time lags between cash outflows and cash inflows, it is anticipated that net financial debt will exceed the amount forecast for the year end reporting date at some interim dates during the course of the financial year.

Claus Sauter, Chief Executive Officer of Verbio SE, commented: “The demand for molecules and the GHG quotas in the market make us optimistic. The market for bioethanol in particular remains tight. Even if the planned entry into force of RED III can no longer take place within the time frame foreseen due to the repeated delays in the cabinet, the ministries continue to assume that it will be applied retroactively. A new draft from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) has already been made public, and our initial view of this is positive overall. There has also already been a ministerial agreement to abolish double counting – a key driver for market recovery, alongside the reform of the protection of legitimate expectations.”

Verbio key figures

(EUR millions)	Q1 24/25	Q1 25/26	yoy	Q4 24/25	qoq
Production
Biodiesel (tonnes)	161,833	166,885	3.1%	160,146	4.2%
Bioethanol (tonnes)	140,029	153,714	9.8%	162,596	-5.5%
Biomethane (MWh)	271,203	336,051	23.9%	325,005	3.4%
Revenue	358.0	438.2	22.4%	433.4	1.1%
Biodiesel	197.1	244.1	23.8%	244.4	-0.1%
Bioethanol/Biomethane	157.5	191.2	21.4%	186.1	2.7%
EBITDA	-6.6	15.4	n.a.	-8.2	n.a.
EBITDA margin	n.a.	3.5%	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.
Biodiesel	15.4	22.6	46.9%	20.8	8.8%
EBITDA margin	7.8%	9.3%	1.5 pp	8.5%	0.8 pp
Bioethanol/Biomethane	-21.5	-9.5	n.a.	-26.3	n.a.
EBITDA margin	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.

 

(EUR millions)	30.06.2025	30.09.2024	+/-
Net debt	164.0	203.8	24.3%
Equity ratio	58.2%	57.9%	-0.3 pp

 

Detailed information on business developments in the first three months of the financial year 2025/26 is provided in the quarterly statement for the period ended September 30, 2025, which can be viewed from 8.30 a.m. CET on Verbio’s website at www.verbio.de/financialreports.
 

¹ The market spread is the difference between the price of the biofuel finished product and the prices of the primary raw materials used, expressed per tonne of biofuel.
 

About Verbio

At Verbio we make more from biomass. In our biorefineries we convert raw materials and residues from regional agriculture into climate-friendly fuels, green energy and renewable products for chemicals and agriculture. In addition, we create high-value components from sustainably-generated biomass for the animal feed and foodstuff industries. We employ approximately 1,400 people at our locations in Europe, Asia and North America. Our motto “Pioneering green solutions” sums up what drives our international team: with innovative technologies and green solutions, we are shaping the social and industrial transformation toward climate neutrality and ecological production. We contribute to preserving natural resources and to leaving the Earth in a habitable state for the generations that will follow us. In doing so we combine global growth with economic success, social responsibility and security of supply. Verbio shares (ISIN DE000A0JL9W6/WKN A0JL9W) have been listed in the prime standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since October 2006. Our headquarters are in Zörbig, Germany.

 

Important notice

This publication contains forward-looking statements that are based on current assumptions and estimates made by the management of Verbio SE. Although the Company’s management is of the opinion that these assumptions and estimates are realistic, actual future developments and actual future results may differ significantly from these assumptions and estimates due to a variety of factors. These factors can include, among other things, changes in the financial and asset position, the development or performance of the Company, the legal and regulatory framework in Germany and the EU, and changes in the industry. Verbio neither intends nor assumes any separate obligation to update, revise or adapt forward-looking statements to take account of future events or developments.

Contact:

Verbio SE
Ritterstraße 23 (Oelßner's Hof)
04109 Leipzig

Alina Köhler (IR)
Ulrike Kurze (PR)
+49(0)341/308530-299
E-Mail: ir@verbio.de/pr@verbio.de