LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - One of the world's biggest developers of carbon
offset energy projects, UK-based EcoSecurities Group Plc, said its offset
issuances for the next 12 months were likely to be markedly below previous
expectations.
Shares in EcoSecurities were down 14.3 percent at 67 pence at 0842 GMT.
EcoSecurities said on Thursday it expected "a rapid increase in the
generation of emission reductions from its pre-2012 CDM (clean development
mechanism) portfolio projects", but administrative delays in the UN's project
registration, verification and CER issuance processes would hit issuances of
offsets, called CERs.
"The registration process is extraordinarily slow ... and very
challenging," EcoSecurities CEO Bruce Usher told Reuters.
"The verification process is also proving to be very slow and many CER
issuances are being held up."
EcoSecurities cut its project portfolio once again, forecasting, as of
Aug. 29, 118 million CERs to be generated from 408 projects by 2012. This is
down from estimates of 121 million CERs at June 30, 122 million at Feb. 29, and
127 million forecast in December 2007.
EcoSecurities posted results for the six months to the end of June which
showed its consolidated revenue rose 140 percent to 13.4 million euros ($19
million), with 595,000 CERs issued to EcoSecurities during the period, up from
72,000 a year earlier.
The company posted a loss for the period of 11.1 million euros ($15.71
million), down from 13.2 million euros in the first half of 2007.
London-listed EcoSecurities and rivals such as Camco International Ltd
and Trading Emissions invest in CDM projects in developing countries that
generate emissions reductions, which they then sell for profit to clients
looking to cut their own emissions.
The registration of such projects and issuance of CERs are key
performance indicators for these companies.
EcoSecurities has 107 projects registered to date, capable of generating
28 million CERs. However, only 23 of these projects are actually generating
CERs.
More than half of EcoSecurities projects are in China, and the company
said it paid an average of 7.23 euros per CER, compared to an average forward
selling price of 13.67 euros.
For additional news and analysis on the carbon markets, go to
http://communities.thomsonreuters.com
(Reporting by Michael Szabo and Dan Lalor; Editing by Michael Urquhart)
($1=.7064 EURO) Keywords: CARBON/ECOSECURITIES
tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com
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