Over the last few years, the company has been building up a national network of recycling facilities, through a number of acquisitions and projects including the development of a second 'super MRF' in North London, due to be commissioned in May.
Today, an NTR Plc spokeswoman told letsrecycle.com that the company was aware of some speculation regarding a possible sale and would not comment on this, but could confirm that it was being considered as an option.
She said: “The group does not as a matter of policy comment on speculation but can confirm that it regularly explores strategic options for different parts of its portfolio of businesses as a matter of course.”
Conditions
In its latest half-yearly report in December 2009, NTR said it had been experiencing “challenging trading conditions” in its sustainable waste management business, which also covers operations in the US and in Ireland – where it is the country's biggest waste contractor.
This was put down to falling waste volumes and commodity prices in the recession. As a result, the company has been “rationalising” its North American business and is taking over Veolia's commercial waste and recycling arm in Ireland.
While the UK recycling business was also affected, the company said that its domestic collection operation – buoyed by the acquisition of Verdant in December 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story) – had proved “very resilient”.
Due to the financial climate, NTR plc reported an overall operating loss of £62 million (€67.9 million) for the six months until September 30 2009 compared to a loss of £502,000 (€550,000) for the same period in 2008.
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