CropEnergies AG: CropEnergies off to a very good start in the 2022/23 financial year

Highest quarterly sales in the company's history

Mannheim (pta004/06.07.2022/07:00 UTC+2)

In the 1st quarter of 2022/23 (1 March – 31 May 2022), CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, increased revenues to EUR 399 (previous year: EUR 214) million and operating profit to EUR 87 (previous year: EUR 15) million. EBITDA improved to EUR 98 million (previous year: EUR 25 million). Ethanol production in the 1st quarter increased compared to the previous year and reached 281,000 (previous year: 235,000) cubic meters. Food and animal feed production also exceeded the previous year's level.

The main reason for the exceptionally good results was price hedging for raw materials and energy, that had already been entered into prior to the start of the Ukraine war and the associated sharp rise in raw material and energy prices. However, the positive impact on earnings of these early hedging positions will weaken noticeably in the coming months.

The European Parliament and the Council are currently discussing a renewed increase in the targets for renewable energies. At the end of June 2022, the EU member states agreed on a common position that essentially corresponds to the proposals of the EU Commission. According to this, the share of renewable energies in the EU is to increase to at least 40 percent by 2030. With regard to CO2 limits for passenger cars, the EU member states are in favor of an extensive ban on new vehicles with internal combustion engines from 2035. While CropEnergies welcomes the EU's more ambitious targets in principle, it rejects a de facto ban on new vehicles with internal combustion engines. Dr Stephan Meeder, CEO CropEnergies AG: "This is a clear violation of the principle of technology openness and technology neutrality. Once again, only the emissions at the exhaust of the vehicles are taken into account. Lifecycle emissions from vehicles with no local emissions, such as electric cars, are completely ignored. Emissions from the manufacture of the batteries are not included, nor are those from the charging current used." It now remains to be seen what the final agreement between Parliament and Council will be. But it is already feared that the regulation will not be open to all technologies and thus will not take into account the fact that different drive and fuel options will be needed for a long time to come in order to achieve the climate targets in the transport sector or to meet the various mobility needs.

On 15 June 2022, CropEnergies had raised its outlook for the 2022/23 financial year. Revenues of EUR 1.45 to EUR 1.55 billion (previous year: EUR 1.08 billion) and an operating profit of EUR 165 to EUR 215 million (previous year: EUR 127 million) are expected. This corresponds to an EBITDA of EUR 205 to EUR 255 (previous year: EUR 169) million. The outlook is based on the assumption of a normalization of mobility behavior. However, the impact of the Ukraine war on sales, energy and raw material markets remains difficult to assess. From today's perspective, CropEnergies generally assumes that sufficient energy and raw materials will be available for the production of renewable ethanol as well as food and animal feed products.

In this context, CropEnergies also assumes that the declaration of the gas emergency plan alert level in Germany will not have a significant negative impact on prices. Furthermore, it is expected that the EU member states will essentially maintain their blending targets for biofuels and that this will continue to enable high capacity utilization. In addition, CropEnergies expects that increased energy and raw material costs can be at least partially offset by higher sales prices for ethanol as well as for food and animal feed.

The full report for the 1st quarter 2022/23 can be downloaded from the CropEnergies website.

CropEnergies AG

Sustainable, renewable products made from biomass – that is what CropEnergies stands for. Our products contribute to a climate-friendly world and ensure that fossil carbons remain in the ground permanently and do not continue to drive climate change.

Founded in Mannheim in 2006, the member of the Südzucker Group is the leading European producer of renewable ethanol. With a production capacity of 1.3 million m3 of ethanol per year, CropEnergies produces neutral alcohol as well as technical alcohol (ethanol) for a wide range of applications at locations in Germany, Belgium, the UK, and France: Sustainably produced ethanol as a petrol substitute is an answer to the future challenges of climate-friendly energy supply in the transport sector. Thanks to highly efficient production plants, our ethanol reduces CO2 emissions by an average of more than 70 percent across the entire value chain compared to fossil fuel. Our high-quality alcohol is also used in beverage production, cosmetics, pharmaceutical applications, for example as a basis for disinfectants, or as a raw material for innovative biochemicals.

Equally important are the resulting protein food and animal feed products as a sustainable regional alternative to emission-intensive protein imports from overseas, as well as biogenic carbon dioxide. It is used in beverage production, among other things, and will be a valuable raw material for a wide range of applications in transport and industry in the future. Thus, all raw material components are utilised in our circular economy.

CropEnergies AG (ISIN DE000A0LAUP1) is listed on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Contact

Heike Baumbach

Investor Relations

Tel.: +49 (621) 71 41 90-30

Fax: +49 (621) 71 41 90-03

ir@cropenergies.de

Nadine Dejung-Custance

PR / Marketing

Tel.: +49 (621) 71 41 90-65

Fax: +49 (621) 71 41 90-05

presse@cropenergies.de

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Emitter:	CropEnergies AG Maximilianstraße 10 68165 Mannheim Germany
Contact Person:	Heike Baumbach
Phone:	+49 621 71 41 90-30
E-Mail:	ir@cropenergies.de
Website:	www.cropenergies.com
ISIN(s):	DE000A0LAUP1 (Share)
Stock Exchange(s):	Regulated Market in Frankfurt; Free Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate