Andritz reports solid activity in pellet sector in Q2 results

Austria-based Andritz Group has released financial results for the
first half of the year, reporting solid project activity in the biomass
pelleting sector. According to the company, orders for biomass pelleting
equipment were secured in Latin America, North America, Southeast Asia
and Europe. Within its financial report, Andritz highlighted an order
from a European customer for a large Andritz BioMax mill with the
capacity to produce 12 tons of wood pellets per hour.

Overall, Andritz reported order intakes of €2.98 billion ($3.98
billion) during the first half of the year, up from nearly €2.53 billion
during the same period of 2012. The company reported sales of €2.66
billion during the six-month period, up from €2.61 billion during the
same period of last year. EBITDA for the first half of the year was
€175.7 million, up from €136 million.

During the second quarter of the year, Andritz reported order intake
of €1.24 billion, maintaining the €1.24 billion order intake reported
for the same quarter of 2013. Sales for the quarter were €1.44 billion,
approximately the same as the €1.44 billion reported for the second
quarter of the previous year. EBITDA was €106.2 million, up slightly
from €104 million during the same quarter of 2013.

The separation business unit, which includes pellet orders, reported
order intake of €310.4 million for the half year and €166.4 million for
the second quarter, compared to €322.2 million and €176.1 million during
the same periods of 2013, respectively. Quarterly sales for the segment
were €138.1 million, down from €149.9 million. EBITDA was €1.5 million
during the second quarter, down from €4.3 million.

The pulp and paper unit, which includes biomass boilers, reported
order intake of €1.06 billion for the half year and €402.4 million for
the quarter, compared to €815 million and €391.5 million during the same
periods of last year, respectively. Quarterly sales were €469.7
million, down slightly from €479.8 million during the same period of
2013. EBITDA for the quarter was €33.5 million, up from €18.1 million
during the same quarter of last year.

Within the results, Andritz highlighted several events and orders
regarding biomass boilers. According to the company, E.ON recently
started generating electricity from its Blackburn Meadows biomass site
in the U.K. using a waste wood-fired EcoFluid boiler and related systems
supplied by Andritz. With regard to new orders, Andritz noted it has
been awarded a contract by Mondi in Poland to rebuild a recovery boiler
at the Świecie mill into a state-of-the-art biomass boiler. Under the
separation segment, Andritz reported that Zhanjiang Chenming Pulp &
Paper in China has ordered one of the largest biomass belt dryers in the
world for its biomass gasification project.