Norway-headquartered salmon farmer Marine Harvest achieved operational earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 259 million (USD 273.3 million) in the fourth-quarter of last year, up from EUR 90 million (USD 95 million) in the corresponding period of 2015.
“Driven by high salmon prices on strong demand and reduced supply, we achieved record high operational results in the fourth quarter. It is very encouraging to see strong operational performance in all our entities,” Marine Harvest CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog said.
As a result, the company posted an all-time high operational EBIT for the full year of EUR 700 million (USD 738.7 million), which was more than double the EUR 347 million (USD 366.2 million) total achieved in 2015.
“2016 was a great year for Marine Harvest, with both record earnings and cash flow generation," Aarskog said. "I am very proud of the work all our colleagues have put in to achieve these results."
While the performance was “satisfying,” there is still plenty of scope for improvement in the future, he said.
The operational EBIT of its salmon of Norwegian origin in Q4 2016 increased to EUR 2.70 (USD 2.85) per kg, up from EUR 1.47 (USD 1.55) in Q4 2015. Operational EBIT improvements were also seen in its salmon of Scottish, Canadian and Chilean origin, which amounted to EUR 1.83 (USD 1.93), EUR 3.33 (USD 3.51) and EUR 2.61 (USD 2.75) per kg respectively.
The total volume harvested by the group in the last quarter was 99,634 metric tons (MT) gutted weight equivalent (GWE), down from 110,551 MT in Q4 2015.
Its harvest guidance for 2017 is 403,000 MT.
MH Consumer Products reported an operational EBIT of EUR 22.9 million (USD 24.2 million) in Q4 2016, up from EUR 9.8 million (USD 10.3 million), while MH Feed reported an operational EBIT of EUR 10.8 million (USD 11.4 million), an increase of EUR 2.8 million (USD 3 million).
“We continue to strengthen the efforts in North America, with the new Dallas plant opening at the end of the fourth quarter and a new value-added facility opening in British Columbia in the end of the second quarter of 2017. Marine Harvest is also nominated to purchase farming assets on the east coast of Canada, which in the future can further strengthen our supply to the North American market,” Aarskog said.
Marine Harvest has also confirmed its intention to delist its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing, citing that only three percent of the worldwide share trading volume in the past 12 months had occurred in the United States, while the costs of maintaining a NYSE listing and a registration under the Exchange Act were significant.
"The delisting and deregistration will enable us to simplify financial reporting processes, while maintaining the same high-quality IFRS compliant financial reporting and disclosures. Corporate governance will not be affected, as important governance bodies such as the Board Audit Committee will remain, in addition to an adequate level of internal controls. We will also maintain the same strong focus on serving our U.S. investor base as we have had in the past," said Ivan Vindheim, chief financial officer at Marine Harvest.
Following the delisting and deregistration, Marine Harvest will continue to be subject to the rules of the Oslo Stock Exchange and other Norwegian and E.U. financial market regulations.
