Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE) continues to get back in the black with a big splash. After reporting steep losses in 2007 and 2008, the company bounced back with a big surge in revenues and earnings last year as ethanol production increases along with prices. It’s safe to say that conditions for ethanol producers are quite a bit better now than they were a couple years ago and that’s certainly reflected in the stock prices of the ethanol plays,
Green Plains reported a Q4 EPS of .91/share which compares to a .08/share loss in the year ago quarter. Revenues more than doubled over the year ago quarter to $436 million.
CEO Todd Becker commented: “All of our businesses performed well in the fourth quarter. We generated significantly higher operating income during the quarter primarily due to a strong performance from our ethanol production segment. In the fourth quarter, we produced 122 million gallons of ethanol which exceeds our expected capacity. The combination of higher production volumes, a stronger margin environment, and harvest activities for agribusiness resulted in a record quarter. During 2009 and more recently, we have continued to see demand for ethanol increase driven by expanded mandates and positive blend margins. This combined with a record corn harvest resulted in an improved margin environment in late 2009 and early 2010.