The British waste management company Viridor achieved revenue of £410.2m (€464m) for the six months ended 30 September, up 2 per cent against the prior-year half. Viridor posted before tax profit of £37.1m, up from just less than £13m a year earlier, according to parent company Pennon.
Most of Viridor's business segments saw increases in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda). Rises were reported for the segments energy recovery facilities (ERFs), landfill, and contracts, collections & other. The landfill gas and recycling segments were the exceptions. Here Ebitda decreased due to lower landfill gas generation volumes and pressure on recyclate margins due to China's changing quality requirements. Viridor believed the Chinese import policy was likely to prevent any significant rise in the prices of secondary raw materials.
Waste to energy (wte) plants or ERFs were a growth driver. Average availability continued to be greater than 90 per cent for the reporting period. "Our ERFs are outperforming the base case indications we have previously published," said Pennon. The number of plants in operation during the first half was unchanged from a year earlier. The increase in underlying Ebitda for this segment, 2 per cent to £51.7m, was due to facility optimisation, particularly through greater turbine efficiency. The company has three further ERFs in commissioning which it expects to bring online in time to make a substantial contribution to Ebitda growth in the coming financial year.
