Marine Harvest on Wednesday released its third-quarter results, including an operating income of NOK 759 million (USD 130.1 million, EUR 92.6 million), up NOK 165 million from last year’s total.
In the third quarter of 2010, the Norwegian company’s operating revenues reached NOK 3.61 billion (USD 619 million, EUR 441 million), up just slightly from NOK 3.6 billion during the same period last year, while net earnings totaled NOK 670 million (USD 144.9 million, EUR 81.8 million), up NOK 44 million from last year.
According to the company, spot prices in Norway fell from the second to the third quarter, but Marine Harvest Norway increased its average price, delivering a per-kilogram operational income of NOK 13.36 in the third quarter, nearly double last year’s total. Marine Harvest Canada and Marine Harvest Scotland reported per-kilogram operational incomes of NOK 2.71 and NOK 10.91, respectively.
Marine Harvest CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog is optimistic about the fourth quarter. “Marine Harvest has a strong contract portfolio for the fourth quarter of 2010, with prices above the contracted prices for the third quarter,” he said.
The world’s largest salmon farmer produced 64,032 metric tons of fish in the third quarter of 2010, down from 79,554 tons in the third quarter of 2009. The company expects to yield 292,000 metric tons this year, 87,000 metric tons of which is projected to be harvested in the fourth quarter.
“We are currently focusing on optimizing production volumes from existing licences in Norway. This incremental production will require limited capital expenditure and contribute to a lower overall production cost and increased margins going forward,” said Aarskog.
“We expect to show substantial growth in Norwegian production volumes in 2011 and 2012,” he added.
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