UK's Hydrodec announces plans to diversify offerings

Lord Moynihan, chairman of Hydrodec Group plc, a cleantech industrial oil re-refining group, announced on June 10, that Hydrodec has unveiled a major expansion of its North American business through a strategic partnership with G&S Technologies Group.
The deal involves the creation of a new entity, Hydrodec of North America LLC, in which Hydrodec will ultimately own 50.1% and contribute its existing re-refining plant in Canton, Ohio.
Hydrodec says the company will be one of the largest handlers and processors of waste and polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated transformer oil in North America.
The partnership will also enable Hydrodec and G&S to accelerate their growth in the world’s biggest energy market while sharing the risks and capital investments between strong complementary businesses.
Chief Executive Ian Smale said, “This partnership enables Hydrodec to aggressively expand its successful North American business and is a major step on the path to profitability for the Hydrodec Group.”
The management team has also taken the first steps to diversify beyond transformer oils by continuing to explore new licensing, partnership, and acquisition opportunities across the business.
The company also announced that sales volumes are up over the same period last year, with Australia performing particularly well, and they expect to achieve a new record for the first half of the year.
Overall revenues have also increased relative to the same period last year despite lower average sales prices. Gross margins are broadly in line with the same period last year but significantly higher than those achieved in 2012 as a whole. The improvement reflects tight controls on feedstock and other direct costs, offsetting the fall in sales prices.
Production capacity remained steady at approximately 70% and the company expects this to increase in the second half of the year.
(June 10, 2013)