Published on 30 December 2022, the results do, however, show that overall revenues for the division grew to £30.7 million, up £13.6 million year-on-year.
Viridor Polymers explains that it is focuses on “recovering value” in waste plastic materials through recycling. It does this via its 80,000 tonne capacity Avonmouth reprocessing facility, as well as facilities in Rochester, Kent and Skelmersdale, Lancashire.
Plastic tonnages received at its plastic reprocessing facilities rose to 85,826, tonnes up from 55,780. This was due to the opening of the Avonmouth facility in March 2022.
However, just 33,180 tonnes were treated at its plastic recycling facilities, suggesting around 50,000 tonnes of material was put back into the market, to other recycling businesses.
Operating loss
The income statement account for Viridor Polymers shows a loss of £4.26 million before tax, depreciation, amortisation and dividends. However, when amortisation and depreciation (£13m) are included, an operating loss is reported in the accounts of £16.6 million. With some smaller adjustments and a tax credit of £3.8 million, the overall “loss for the year” is £13.3 million.
Viridor Ltd
The results were posted on Companies House on 30 December, alongside republished consolidated accounts for Viridor Ltd, the holding company which also includes Viridor’s energy from waste (EfW) division.
These were first published in October 2022, and show a £68.4 million statutory loss for the 2021/22 financial year, down from a £53 million profit the previous year. Statutory earnings before tax rose by 28%.
The majority of the loss is thought to have been down to energy swaps. This is a financial instrument whereby one participant agrees to a fixed-price contract on a settlement date, while the other counterparty takes on the spot price.
Figures
Viridor Ltd paid dividends of £54.4 million for the year, the results say, after not paying them the previous year when it posted a profit.
The increase in revenues was put down to a range of factors, including sustained performance of EfW plants, increased energy prices and the Avonmouth plant coming online.
Viridor said demand would remain strong for its EfW services due to capacity issues nationally.
2020/21 Charges
The Viridor Ltd financial results also included details of funds the company set aside from the previous financial year, which did not impact the 2021/22 results.
This included £10 million in 2020/21 for “potential prosecutions” from the Health and Safety Executive.
A further £46.8 million was set aside as an impairment at its Glasgow EfW facility, based on site tonnages and the AD site onsite availability being lower than anticipated.
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