BIOPETROL INDUSTRIES AG
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BIOPETROL reports sales and earnings growth

NB: Please note the disclaimer at the end of this press release

21 November 2006. BIOPETROL INDUSTRIES AG boosted consolidated sales revenues in the first nine months of financial year 2006 (to 30 September) by nearly 70% to €97.1 million. The gross operating result rose by 32% to €12,5 million and consolidated earnings for the period by 18% to €2.7 million. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), were about on the previous years level at €4,0 million. The reason was start-up costs for the new works in Rostock. Biodiesel producer BIOPETROL hired personnel at an early stage, for instance, to ensure that production gets off to a smooth start in December and reaches full operating capacity as soon as possible in Rostock.

“On balance we are satisfied with the course of the third quarter,” said Klaus-Ulrich Henschel, Chief Executive Officer of BIOPETROL INDUSTRIES AG.

BIOPETROL steps up planned capacity
Sales growth to 30 September resulted from expansion of the biodiesel production facility in Schwarzheide from 100,000 to 150,000 tonnes a year. Once the Rostock works is in operation at the end of November the Group's total capacity will increase to an initial 300,000 tonnes and from 2007 to over 350,000 tonnes a year. Further growth will result from the completion of a works that has been ordered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with an annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes that will go on stream in the third quarter of 2007. The BIOPETROL Group also plans to expand production capacity at the Rotterdam location to 650,000 tonnes a year.

“From 2008 we will be able to produce about one million tonnes of biodiesel a year and will then be in a strong market position. With large, high-capacity plant at first-class logistical locations in the immediate vicinity of the oil industry and with connections to pipelines, deep-water ports, railway logistics and the European motorway network we are opening up new sales markets,” said CEO Henschel.

Growth in the third quarter
In the third quarter of 2006 BIOPETROL sales revenues totalled about €34.8 million, up by around 37% on the same quarter last year. Continuous, interruption-free production enabled biodiesel sales to be increased to 39,814 tonnes (previous year: 29,147 tonnes). Biodiesel accounted for the lion's share (91%) of sales, followed by pharmaceutical grade glycerine (5%), the remainder being vegetable oil and other ancillary products.

Start-up costs for the Rostock works led mainly to a significant increase in personnel costs to €1.1 million (previous year: €0.5 million). The Q3-EBIT rose, despite of the start-up costs, by 3% to €2.0.

Operative cash flow up significantly — Sound balance sheet structure
Operative cash flow rose by about €6 million in the third quarter to around €11 million (previous year: € -0.037 million). The balance sheet total increased mainly due to investment and a higher volume of business to €81.3 million (previous year: €71.3 million). The equity ratio is 80.9% (previous year: 88.7%). In spite of investments totalling €3.6 million, the €16.8 million in cash and cash equivalents held on 30 September 2006 was higher than at the beginning of the quarter (30.6.2006: €14.5 million).

Outlook
The Rostock works will be inaugurated and commence operation on 7 December 2006. In the first quarter of 2007 construction will start on the Rotterdam works. Greater use of economies of scale in procurement, sales and production will improve competitiveness and help to achieve a steady improvement in gross operating margin. With the start of production in Rostock contribution margins will be earned there. The new location in the port of Rostock also opens up additional logistics options for expanding sales to European markets. That is of outstanding importance, especially against the backdrop of an increasingly difficult German market.

The detailed quarterly report (Q3 to 30 September 2006) is available in German and English on the company's www.biopetrol-ind.com website.

About the company:
BIOPETROL INDUSTRIES AG, based in Zug, Switzerland, produces and distributes via its German and Swiss subsidiaries biodiesel and pharmaceutical grade glycerine of the highest quality. Its customers include the mineral oil industry and oil traders, large fleet operators, public transport, agriculture and the construction industry. In addition, glycerine is supplied to the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries.

At present BIOPETROL INDUSTRIES AG produces, about 150,000 tonnes of biodiesel and 30,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical grade glycerine per year in Schwarzheide, Germany. At the beginning of February 2006 the foundation stone for a further location was laid in Rostock, where from December 2006 an annual 150,000 tonnes and, in a second stage, 200,000 tonnes of biodiesel a year will be produced. In Rotterdam in the Netherlands, BIOPETROL is building a works with a production capacity of 400,000 tonnes of biodiesel and 60,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical grade glycerine per year. By the end of 2007, annual capacity is to be increased fivefold to 750,000 tonnes of biodiesel. Further plans provide for enlargement of capacity in Rotterdam to 650,000 tonnes of biodiesel per year, taking consolidated overall production capacity to one million tonnes per year.

Disclaimer
This press release is neither an offer to sell nor an invitation to submit an offer to buy or subscribe to securities. This release and the information that it contains are not intended for direct or indirect circulation to or within the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan.

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