Kingfish Co loses €3.5m despite higher gross profit

The company, which grows yellowtail kingfish in the Netherlands, also reached productivity of 0.65 kg per cubic metre per day in the first half of 2021, a 20% increase from first half of 2020.

However, net loss after tax for H1 2021 was €3.5 million, which included indirect costs and development costs related to the scale-up phase of the business, and planned expansion of the company’s production capacity in The Netherlands and the United States.

Doubling capacity

“We are pleased to see the positive results of our efforts to develop a sector-leading and reliable production system for high-value marine seafood, and to confirm an ongoing improvement of productivity over our design capacity,” said chief executive Ohad Maiman.

“We are in the process of doubling our capacity to more than 3,000 tons in The Netherlands and are in advanced stages of development of a 6,000-8,000-tonne facility in the US, targeting groundworks start between Q4 2021 to Q1 2022.”

The company said its strategic adviser, J P Morgan, is advancing work to secure equity fundraising for the US development and additional growth, and that demand for fish was good.

Strong demand

“Overall, fresh product demand continues to outstrip supply with the re-opening of Horeca business across Europe and US while newly established retail channels show strong performance,” said Maiman.

“Our frozen individually vacuum packaged (IVP) portions have been successfully launched in Whole Foods Market US nationwide, and we also launched fresh modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) portions in over 300 stores of Albert Heijn, the largest retailer in Netherlands.”

The Kingfish Company had record production of 496 tonnes net growth in H1, up 53% from H1 2020. It had record sales of €3.8m at higher average sales prices of €11.3/kg whole fish equivalent.