SalMar made operating profit of £129.6m in Q2
Scottish Sea Farms co-owner SalMar made an operating profit of NOK 1.745 billion (£129.6 million) in the second quarter of 2023, it reported today.
The company made NOK 1.048 bn in the same period last year but has since acquired more volume by purchasing Norwegian salmon farming and shipping company NTS.
SalMar, the world’s second largest Atlantic salmon farmer, harvested 44,300 gutted weight tonnes in Norway and Iceland in Q2, and made operational EBIT per kg of NOK 39.4.
Operational EBIT for Norway alone was NOK 1.790bn and operational EBIT per kg was NOK 40.5.
Good results in north
As reported by Scottish Sea Farms’ other co-owner Lerøy yesterday, SSF made an operating loss of NOK -144m (£10.6m) in Q2 due to biological problems which have resulted in it reducing its estimated annual harvest volume by 10,000 gwt to 27,000 gwt. Incident-based mortality cost SSF £13.2m in the quarter.
SalMar’s Central Norway region reported good operational performance, but results were partly offset by cost levels being impacted by write-down of biomass related to incident at cleaner fish facility. The company’s Northern Norway region reported strong results following solid operational performance and reduced cost level.
The company’s Icelandic subsidiary, Icelandic Salmon, harvested very low volume in the second quarter 2023 to optimise biological performance.
“The segment expects to increase its harvest volume significantly in the third quarter 2023,” wrote SalMar in its Q2 2023 report.
“The volume guidance for 2023 is kept unchanged at 16,000 tonnes. A significant increase in volumes is expected in 2024 following the company’s significant investments in additional smolt capacity in 2021 and 2022.”
SalMar has two offshore units in operation. In May the third production cycle started at Ocean Farm 1 in central Norway, and in July the first production cycle started in the development project Arctic Offshore Farming in northern Norway. Arctic Offshore Farming was developed by Norway Royal Salmon, which SalMar acquired when it bought NTS last year.
