Akva Group ASA on Tuesday released its second-quarter results, but news of the aquaculture technology firm’s performance was overshadowed by talk of a potential sale.
However, the Akva board unanimously recommended to shareholders that they reject an offer to acquire the company from Kontrari AS because the offer is too low. According to the board, the offer of NOK 11 per share, which was made in late June and amounts to NOK 170 million, represents a 3 percent discount on the average share price in the month before the offer and a 21 percent discount on the average share price the last 12 months before the offer.
Kontrari AS is owned outright by Frode Teigen, who also holds a 50 percent stake in Egersund Group AS.
“However, the board wants to emphasize that the shareholders who decide to keep their shares should have a long term perspective on their investment due to the potential effect of the shareholder structure on the liquidity in the share,” said the board. “The board furthermore emphasizes that there can be no certainty that shareholders can realize a value for their shares in excess of the offer price, as this will depend on future developments in market conditions and the company’s performance, and shareholders should make their own assessment of the offer.”
Akva’s second-quarter results were strong, as the company posted operating revenues of 222.5 NOK million, up from NOK 176.3 million in the second quarter of 2010, and an operating income of NOK 14, up from an operating loss of NOK 11.9 million.
“The salmon prices fell during the second quarter, down from very high levels in previous quarters,” said the Norwegian company. “Still market fundamentals in the salmon market remain fairly good amid higher uncertainty as to the effect on salmon prices from the recovery of the Chilean salmon industry. For AKVA Group, the Chilean market in particular has developed very strong during the second quarter both in terms of revenues and order inflow.”
