Norwegian trout and salmon farmer Cermaq reported in its 1Q report that “a continued strong market” along with improvements in the company’s operations in Chile have led to an “all time high” of earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), the company wrote.
Strong prices were part of the reason for a reported EBIT for 1Q 2014 of NOK 325 million (USD 54 million, EUR 39 million), compared to only NOK 78 million (USD 13 million, EUR 9.4 million) in 1Q 2013. Operating revenues for the same quarter 2014 were at 1.5 billion (USD 249.4 million, EUR 180.4 million), up from the NOK 1.2 billion (USD 199.5 million, EUR 144.3 million) reported in 2013.
CEO Jon HIndar cited “a continued improvement” in sanitary conditions at Cermaq’s Chile plant as another reason for the good numbers. EBIT for the Chilean division totaled NOK 76 million (USD 12.6 million, EUR 9.1 million) this year, compared to the NOK -48 million (USD 8 million, EUR 5.8 million) the company reported last year.
“The efforts of the company, the industry, and authorities are starting to pay off, although significant work remains to be done,” Hindar said.
Volumes were down, totaling 34,700 metric tons (MT), a decrease of 8,400 MT from the same time last year, but it still 7,000 MT above estimate.
