Lerøy harvests record-high volume in Q4
Lerøy Seafood Group (LSG) harvested 49,000 tonnes of salmon and trout in the last three months of 2018, the highest harvest volume in any quarter in the Norwegian group’s history.
Operating profit for the Farming segment before fair value adjustment related to biological assets was NOK 786 million (NOK 567m in Q4 2017), LSG said in its Q4 report.
LSG attributed the increase to the higher volume, higher prices than in Q4 2017 and lower costs, but added that a downgrading of trout had a significant negative impact.
Reproductive maturity
The harvest volume of one of its three farming regions, Lerøy Sjøtroll, comprised 48% trout in Q4 2018. Towards the end of the quarter, the Group encountered significant challenges due to the downgrading of trout as a result of reproductive maturity.
This had a substantial impact on prices, which were NOK 12 per kg lower than for salmon in the quarter.
LSG said release-from-stock costs for the group as a whole were significantly lower than in Q4 2017 and Q3 2018. Both Lerøy Aurora and Lerøy Sjøtroll regions reduced costs, although Lerøy Midt’s costs rose slightly because of lower than expected growth.
Lerøy Midt and Lerøy Sjøtroll had lower costs for the whole of 2018 than 2017, but Lerøy Aurora’s were slightly higher.
NOK 19.84 billion revenue
LSG said income from associates was NOK 81m in Q4 2018, compared with NOK 47m in Q4 2017. Associates include Scottish Sea Farms, which the group jointly owns with SalMar.
For 2018 as a whole, LSG – which comprises the three segments of Farming, Wild Catch and Whitefish, and VAP, Sales and Distribution – reported revenue of NOK 19,838m, up 7% on 2017. The operating profit before fair value adjustment related to biological assets for 2018 was NOK 3,569m compared with NOK 3,717m for 2017.
Profit before tax and fair value adjustment related to biological assets in 2018 was NOK 3,697 million compared with NOK 3,805 million in 2017.
For 2018 as a whole, the Farming segment harvested a volume of 162,000 tonnes, compared with 158,000 tonnes in 2017. Expectations of harvested volume in 2019, including share in associated companies, are maintained in the order of 190,000 tonnes.
