AGM Statement
EcoSecurities Group plc
31 May 2006
EcoSecurities Group plc
AGM Statement
EcoSecurities Group plc (the "Group" or "EcoSecurities"), one of the world's
leading originators of projects which have the potential to generate carbon
credits, will hold its Annual General Meeting in Dublin, Ireland today at 10.00.
At the meeting Mark Nicholls, Chairman, will make the following statements:
"EcoSecurities made considerable progress in the 2005 financial year,
culminating in its successful listing on AIM in December. Progress has been
maintained in 2006, and the business remains on course to implement its business
plan, notwithstanding the recent, well publicised turbulence in the market for
carbon credits.
The commercialisation of the Group's carbon credit portfolio and overall
performance of the business to date is in line with previous expectations.
Furthermore, recent volatility in carbon prices has reinforced the strength of
the Group's business model, based on early stage project origination which
enables the Group to acquire low cost Certified Emission Reductions (a CER being
equal to one metric tonne of CO2e emission reductions) and maintain attractive
margins at a wide range of sale prices. In addition, it is important to
highlight the fact that the Group's portfolio is valued in relation to the
2008-2012 Kyoto Protocol commitment period and current prices for delivery in
that period are higher than our forecasts.
Our business model has been designed to be extremely robust, being underpinned
by conservative assumptions about the prices at which the Group will be able to
sell carbon credits in the First Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol and
Phase 2 of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme ("EU ETS"), which runs
from 2008-2012. Prevailing prices in Phase 2 of the EU ETS have recently
stabilised around €20 per tonne, well above the price assumed by the Group at
the IPO.
A number of significant milestones have been achieved since the financial
year-end, as follows:
• Origination performance has been strong with gross
contract volume of the Group's projects increasing to over 121 million CER's at
present - an increase of 70% since the IPO in 2005. However, it should be noted
that gross project volume does not adjust for the risks that any given project
faces before the delivery of the estimated volume of CERs, nor does it account
for any splitting of volumes with project partners and developers. Recent growth
in the portfolio was based on principal contracts which now represent 64% of the
total volume under contract or term sheet and over 80% of forecast net revenues.
• The project portfolio remains highly diversified by
geography, technology and Clean Development Mechanism ("CDM") methodology, with
a total of 195 projects today, up from 121 at the IPO. The Company has also
recently added projects that reduce emissions of industrial gases, representing
additional technological diversification of its portfolio. We believe that
project diversification, as well as our excellent track record in project
implementation, significantly enhances our ability to generate consistent
production of CER's from our growing project portfolio.
• In order to continue expansion of the Company's
origination efforts, the Group has established 6 new legal entities in China,
the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Thailand and Mexico this year. Further new
legal entities will be formalized in Chile and Indonesia during the second half
of 2006. Additional representatives have been added this year in Morocco, South
Africa and Pakistan and further growth opportunities are under consideration.
• Implementation continues to progress steadily. Of the 195
projects at contract or term sheet stage, over 150 are now financed, over 70
have completed Project Design Documents and 53 have been validated. At present,
16 projects have been registered with the CDM Executive Board, up from 8 at the
IPO.
• Demand for CERs from corporate buyers with 2008-2012
compliance obligations continues to grow, with the number of new corporate
buyers in Europe increasing significantly. To date the Group has pre-sold €140
million of CERs to predominantly large highly rated corporate and government
buyers which represents a steady stream of revenues for the Group through to
2012. A majority of transactions in the year to date have been completed above
€15, which is significantly higher than transactions completed last year due in
part to our stronger balance sheet post IPO as well as strong market demand. We
continue to be active in the market and have a policy to pre-sell approximately
50% of our portfolio by year end 2006, with the vast majority of the pre-sold
volume contracted for delivery from 2008 to 2012.
• The Group had a net cash balance at 30 April 2006 of €66
million which is in line with our expected cash flow forecasts. The Group has
maintained a cost efficient structure despite rapid expansion and has sufficient
capital to sustain operations through the point at which positive cash flow is
generated from operations.
The Group's ongoing business performance, international expertise and successful
track record mean that despite recent market volatility EcoSecurities is well on
track to achieve its business objectives. The Board believes market volatility
highlights EcoSecurities experience and capabilities to both project developers
and carbon credit buyers, thereby enhancing our ability to execute the growth
plan.
EcoSecurities target for the balance of the year is to maintain our core focus
on originating, implementing and commercialising our highly diversified
portfolio of emissions reductions projects. Despite recent market events,
prices for carbon credits in the Kyoto commitment period remain strong and the
conservative forward price assumptions underpinning our strategy remain
unchanged. The continued growth in the Group's contract volume, achieved while
retaining attractive margins, demonstrates the success of the business model and
underpins our confidence in the Group's future prospects."
- Ends -
For further information please contact:
EcoSecurities
Bruce Usher, CEO +1 212 356 0166
Pedro Moura Costa, COO +44 (0) 1865 202 635
Citigate Dewe Rogerson +44 (0) 20 7638 9571
Kevin Smith
Sara Batchelor
Clare Allison
About EcoSecurities:
EcoSecurities is a world leading originator, developer and trader of carbon
credits. The company structures and guides projects through the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) process to the point when the client receives
monetary value for the carbon credits generated. Under the Kyoto protocol, which
established the principle of 'Polluter pays', buyers include companies, carbon
funds, and governments in the so-called Annex 1 industrialised countries.
EcoSecurities floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock
Exchange (ticker Eco.L) on the 13th December 2005, raising £48.5 million pounds
after costs. The company has also established strategic partnerships with
agricultural products and services provider Cargill and the American private
equity firm MSM Capital Partners, which invested in EcoSecurities during a
private equity round prior to the IPO.
As of the date of its IPO, the company had one of the largest carbon credit
project portfolios worldwide, consisting of 121 projects which have the
potential to generate up to 71.3 million CERs through to 2012. The portfolio
benefits from wide diversification with projects located in 26 countries and
deploying 15 technologies.
EcoSecurities has negotiated transactions over Carbon Credits involving a series
of buyers, including the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation,
Shell, Toyota Tsusho and Essent, and currently manages carbon facilities to
source and contract Carbon Credits for the governments of Austria, Denmark and
Japan.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange