Wood Pellet Firm Viridis Energy Reports $972,000 Q2 Loss

VANCOUVER, BC - Viridis Energy Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of wood pellets to global residential and industrial markets, posted a loss of $972,000 on sales of $2.4 million for the second quarter ended June 30. The company had posted an operational loss of $730,000 on $2.9 million in sales for the second quarter of 2011.

Viridis Energy posted a $1.2 million loss in Q1.

Virdis Energy provided two major reasons for its 17% drop in year-to-year Q2 sales. First, Viridis said it experienced a shift in contract arrangements with certain customers in which the cost of freight, usually borne by Viridis and recovered in the sales price, was paid directly by the customer, Distorting a year by year comparison. Second, Viridis said its Okanagan wood pellet facility produced approximately 10 percent less output during the quarter due to maintenance and enhancements that included upgrading the dryer which will enable the plant to accept green fiber.

Viridis Energy added that it expects to realize "sequential revenue growth" due to the improvements as the Okangan plant fully ramps up and as its newly acquired facility in Nova Scotia begins production of wood pellets for fall/winter consumption.

"Our focus this quarter was to streamline our costs, fortify our balance sheet and enhance our operational efficiencies, while preparing the production launch of the Nova Scotia facility and investigating additional opportunities to materially increase capacity to hit our target of 500,000 tons over the next couple of years," said Christopher Robertson, CEO of Viridis Energy.