Shares in Irish emissions trading firm AgCert up 8%

Shares in Irish emissions trading group AgCert jumped 10 per cent yesterday after it announced a long-awaited refinancing and said it planned to reposition itself as a project adviser rather than funding and managing all activities itself. The shares later settled for an 8 per cent ris eon the day.

Speaking as the group revealed a net loss of €93.8 million for 2006, finance director Paul D'Alton said the business, which involves the installation of pollution-cutting technology in farms and the subsequent sale of the saved carbon emission reduction (CER) credits to large polluters, was proving very costly and not producing the desired yields.

He said the money the company had managed to generate from the sale of credits had lagged initial targets by about 40 per cent. As a result, the group was changing its approach. "There is a huge upfront outlay in what we do and we are now going to eradicate this by working with partners," said Mr D'Alton.

Under the new model, AgCert will seek partners to fund the development of new sites. The company already has one such joint venture in place with a group called AEF, whereby it earns 20 per cent of any revenue generated.

"It's simple," said Mr D'Alton. "They have the money and we have the expertise." He said AgCert was in talks with several other interested parties.

As well as reporting a significant widening of its losses, part of which can be attributed to the termination of an existing contract, AgCert yesterday announced a refinancing aimed at turning the company around.

AgCert said it had successfully raised €30 million through the sale of 51.2 million shares in a placing that was oversubscribed. The shares were sold at a 16 per cent discount to the average market closing price on April 26th. Yesterday they closed up 8 per cent at 52.75 pence having earlier hit 54p.

In addition, £10 million worth of debt was capitalised into 24.9 million AgCert shares.

Mr D'Alton said the latest fundraising gives the company significant leverage to develop the business.

He said it expects to be cash-flow positive by the final quarter of this year.

During the year, AgCert added 371 new sites, bringing the total to 636, below its original target. The run rate, or total number of credits produced, was 1.1 million, a number AgCert hopes to increase by five million this year. The actual number of credits applied for and approved by the United Nations, however, was 134,508, up from 1,897 in 2005.