Green Plains (NASDAQ: GPRE) reported Q1 EPS of ($0.60), $0.32 worse than the analyst estimate of ($0.28). Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.05 billion versus the consensus estimate of $922.42 million.

Company Launches Portfolio Optimization Program

• Net loss attributable to the company of $24.1 million, or $(0.60) per diluted share
• EBITDA of $23.1 million
• Portfolio Optimization Program to significantly reduce or eliminate term debt and align portfolio with accretive strategies
• Company signed a Letter of Intent to implement, subject to final negotiations, Fluid-Quip’s patented high-protein technology

“Margins were weak in the first quarter, yet we expect demand for ethanol to improve domestically and internationally as we enter summer driving season,” commented Todd Becker, president and chief executive officer. “As we indicated in February, we limited production due to weak ethanol margins as well as major capital improvements at our plant in Madison, Illinois. We achieved a record yield of 2.89 gallons of ethanol per bushel of corn as a result of our efforts to continue driving efficiency in our ethanol production processes. While we had another solid performance from our food and ingredients segment, which produced $16 million of EBITDA during the quarter, the company’s first quarter financial performance did not meet our expectations.”

“Margins remained volatile even though the industry exported over 500 million gallons of ethanol in the first quarter, keeping exports on pace for another record year in 2018 and industry stock levels lower than each of the two previous years during the same time period,” Becker added. “We anticipate domestic ethanol blending will grow this year as a result of increased gasoline demand, the ethanol price discount to wholesale gasoline and continued effort by the industry to sell E15 year-round.”

“We are also pleased to announce that we signed a Letter of Intent to implement, subject to final negotiations, Fluid-Quip Process Technologies’ patented Maximized Stillage Co-Products™ (MSC) System,” said Becker. “This proven bolt-on technology produces high-protein animal and fish feed ingredients from a portion of distillers grains and is expected to provide a consistent uplift of at least 10 cents per gallon to the ethanol margin structure. After the careful evaluation of several technologies, we are excited to choose Fluid-Quip’s MSC for our first implementation at Shenandoah, Iowa. As we have indicated in the past, we believe the margin contributions of corn oil and high-protein feed ingredients will help our returns become more predictable and consistent over time.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Green Plains (GPRE) click here.