MONTREAL - BioAmber Inc. announced operational and financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015. The company reported sales of bio-succinic acid in the fourth quarter of $1.1 million, including initial shipments to PTTMCC Biochem, an important off-taker requiring high-purity succinic acid to make bioplastic.

BioAmberalso reported that over 100 companies tested and qualified the bio-succinic acid produced in Sarnia. After the quarter, Mitsui & Co. invested $CDN25 million in the Sarnia joint venture, increasing its equity stake from 30 percent to 40 percent and committing to play a bigger role in commercialization.

“We made excellent progress in Sarnia during the fourth quarter. Fermentation continued to perform very well, and purification improved steadily over the quarter as we spent more time operating the equipment, made minor modifications to the process, and our operators gained experience. We encountered typical problems expected during a start-up, but we were successful in producing quality product at a competitive cost and initiating customer sales,” said Jean-Francois Huc, BioAmber’s Chief Executive Officer. “Mitsui & Co.’s recent investment in Sarnia strengthens our balance sheet and is a strong endorsement from a leading global player that is very active in the renewables sector and has intimate knowledge of the Sarnia plant,” he added.

Sarnia continued to see excellent fermentation performance, with the biotechnology consistently and robustly producing above the performance targets set for 2015. Additionally, the purification process made steady improvement during the fourth quarter, with up-time, recovery yields and variable costs all showing positive trends.

The company reported revenues for the year ended December 31, 2015, increased to $2.2 million from $1.5 million last year. This included sales of $1.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Average selling prices declined from 2014 as customers obtained lower pricing for production coming out of the Sarnia facility.