€14.6m profit for NTR energy firm

GREEN Plains Renewable Energy – theNasdaq-quoted, US bio-ethanol business in which Irish group NTR is the single largest shareholder – has reported a full year net profit of $19.8 million (€14.6m), for 2009.

The company, in which NTR acquired a 45% stake two years ago, reported full-year revenues, for 2009, of $1.3 billion.

The Nebraska-based company’s fourth quarter results showed a year-on-year turnaround from a net loss of $1.8m in 2008 to a net profit of $23.1m and a jump in fourth quarter revenue from $$183.2m to $436.7m.

In the previous year, the company made a net profit of $900,000. However, that figure didn’t include the contribution from its merger with Virgin Bioverda in 2008, as the two companies were only formally amalgamated last year. NTR’s involvement with Virgin Bioverda came about after the Irish company bought out Virgin’s 90% stake in Virgin Bioverda , just prior to the aforementioned merger.

GPRE chief executive Todd Becker said that all of the company’s divisions performed well in the fourth quarter of last year.