Shareholders at EnviTec Biogas AG's Annual General Meeting, held virtually on 3 July, approved the German biogas and biomethane producer's proposal to suspend its dividend for fiscal year 2025, carrying forward the company's full accumulated profit instead in order to preserve financial flexibility.
The meeting came as EnviTec reported declining consolidated earnings for 2025, driven largely by regulatory pressures — chiefly the German government's decision to abolish double counting for greenhouse gas (GHG) quotas, alongside weaker performance in the company's Plant Construction segment during the first half of the year. Total output for Q1 2026 rose to €92.4 million, up from €85.3 million in Q1 2025, though earnings before taxes (EBT) fell to €4.1 million from €8.5 million a year earlier, a decline the company said was expected following the quota change.
CFO Jörg Fischer said the dividend suspension would give the company room to continue investing across its markets and segments despite short-term headwinds, noting that internal financing capacity remained strong.
A key highlight was EnviTec's recent success in Germany's EEG tender, securing follow-up subsidies under the Renewable Energy Act for around 16 MW of electrical output across its power portfolio. The award extends continued operation for existing plants by a further 12 years, and up to 20 years for new installations, giving the company long-term earnings visibility across its largest business segment.
CEO Olaf von Lehmden used the meeting to set out the company's ongoing shift from electricity generation to biomethane production, with Own Plant Operation output increasingly being redirected toward biomethane through to 2031. EnviTec plans to invest around €100 million between 2026 and 2029 — including equity-accounted investments — in converting and building EEG plants under the new remuneration framework, as well as converting additional facilities from power generation to gas upgrading.
On the regulatory outlook, von Lehmden welcomed the higher GHG quota prices now in effect and the certainty offered by RED III through to 2040, but raised concerns over a Cabinet draft bill implementing the EU's internal gas market directive, which would allow biomethane plants to be disconnected from the gas grid after just 10 years. He called for "reliable and technology-neutral" conditions for grid connections, while pointing to opportunities in Germany's planned Building Modernisation Act (GMG), particularly its proposed "bio-stairs" mechanism, which he said the industry could readily supply if grid-connection certainty is secured.
For fiscal year 2026, EnviTec's Executive Board guided for total output between €330 million and €370 million, with EBT of €5 million to €15 million — a year-on-year decline it attributed to ongoing regulatory burdens. The board expects growth to resume in 2027, supported by an improved order book in Plant Construction, expansion of the Service segment, and rising biomethane production.
