From left: SSF managing director Jim Gallagher, Barcaldine hatchery manager Noelia Rodriguez and former freshwater manager Pål Tangvik with some of the first RAS-grown fish to be harvested. The company set out a record 10 million smolts last year and expects a 50% increase in harvest in 2021. Photo: SSF.

Scottish Sea Farms increases Q4 earnings by 55%

Scottish Sea Farms made an operating profit of around NOK 76 million (£6.43m) before biomass adjustment in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 55% compared to the NOK 49m earned in the same period in 2019.

Gareth Moore
Published Modified

The company, co-owned by Norwegian salmon farmers Lerøy and SalMar, harvested 6,389 gutted weight tonnes in Q4, around 20% more than the 5,317 gwt harvested in Q4 2019.

SSF’s operating profit for the whole year before biomass adjustment was NOK 308m (2019: NOK 292m) on an annual harvest of just under 24,000 gutted weight tonnes (25,866 gwt), Lerøy said in its Q4 presentation today.

SSF's performance in Q4 and 2020. Click on image to enlarge. Graphic: Lerøy presentation.

36,000 gwt this year

EBIT per kilo was NOK 11.9 (NOK 9.3) in Q4 and NOK 12.9 (NOK 11.3) for 2020.

Expected harvest volume this year is expected to grow by 50% to 36,000 gwt.

Lerøy said SSF reported good biological performance in all regions, and low sealice levels going into 2021.

Costs were lower in Q4 2020 compared to Q4 2019, and a further reduction is expected in the current quarter.

SSF’s new recirculation aquaculture system smolt facility at Barcaldine, Oban is working well, with improved smolt quality and size. The company set out around 10 million smolts last year, its highest ever annual smolt release.

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