CropEnergies AG significantly improves revenues and earnings

Mannheim, 11 January 2007 – In the first nine months of the current financial year (1 March to 30 November 2006) CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, achieved revenues of € 98.2 million, which is almost treble the figure for the same period of the previous year (€ 33.0 million). Operating profit saw a further improvement in the third quarter of the financial year. For the first nine months of the financial year it totalled € 13.0 million (previous year: € -17.4 million).

For the full financial year bioethanol production and revenues will be more than double previous year´s level and will reach around 220,000 m³ and more than € 135 million respectively, thanks to the stable and high level of capacity utilisation at the production plants. CropEnergies now expects an operating margin exceeding 13% for the full 2006/07 financial year.

About CropEnergies

The CropEnergies-Group – a member of the Südzucker-Group – is an established and according to the production capacity a leading European producer of bioethanol for the fuel sector.

„Crop“ stands for „creative regeneration of power“. Energy in the form of bioethanol is produced from renewable resources – grain and sugar beets. With subsidiaries in Germany, France, and Belgium, the CropEnergies-Group has – in just a few years – established itself as a bioethanol producer in a growing market and operates today’s largest bioethanol plant in Europe in Zeitz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. CropEnergies considers itself a pioneer on the German bioethanol market and will expand its market position in Europe. Since September 29, 2006, CropEnergies AG (ISIN DE000A0LAUP1) has been listed in the Prime Standard at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.