AKVA boss spends £451k to increase stake in company

Knut Nesse, chief executive of international aquaculture supplier AKVA group, has spent NOK 5.24 million (£451,433) to increase his shareholding in the company.

The executive bought 80,000 shares at a price of NOK 65.50 through his investment vehicle, Nesse & Co AS, AKVA said in a stock exchange update today.

Following the transaction, Nesse holds directly or indirectly 148,613 shares in the company and 80,000 share options, lifting him into the list of the company’s top 20 shareholders. He is 16th on the list with a holding equivalent to around 0.45% of equity.

Norway’s Egersund Group holds a 51% majority stake in AKVA, and Israel Corporation Ltd has an 18% holding. No other shareholder owns more than 4%.

Norway-based AKVA has branches throughout the fish farming world, including a base in Inverness, Scotland, and operations in Canada and Chile.

AKVA group delivered record high revenue for of NOK 907 million for the second quarter of this year, an increase of 9% compared to Q2 2021 (NOK 832m). EBITDA decreased from NOK 79 m in Q2 2021 to NOK 3m in Q2 2022. Net profit decreased from NOK 16 m in Q2 last year to NOK -41 m in Q2 2022.