Thanks to high salmon prices, Marine Harvest ASA posted and operational EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of NOK 257 million (USD 42.6 million, EUR 29.8 million) in the second quarter of this year, up from NOK 145 million (USD 24 million, EUR 18.8 million) in the same period last year.
High prices were the result of strong demand and tight availability, the world's largest farmed salmon producer reported on Friday.
Marine Harvest recorded operating revenues of NOK 3.9 million (USD 646,600, EUR 452,500) in the second quarter of 2009, up from NOK 3.2 million (USD 513,900, EUR 359,700) in 2008.
The Norwegian company harvested 83,960 metric tons of salmon worldwide in the second quarter of this year, up from 80,669 metric tons last year.
Marine Harvest's Chilean operations, which have been hit hard by infectious salmon anemia (ISA), produced 9,283 metric tons of salmon in the second quarter of 2009, less than half of what it culled during the same period in 2008. The production drop is due, of course, to the ISA outbreak. These figures are on par with numbers the company released a month ago, when it reaffirmed its long-term commitment to Chile.
To compensate for the production shortfall in Chile, Marine Harvest's Norwegian operations produced 48,947 metric tons of salmon in the second quarter of this year, up 6,575 metric tons from last year.
Additionally, Marine Harvest upped its production forecast for 2009 by 17,000 metric tons. The company now expects to harvest 313,000 metric tons of salmon worldwide in 2009, including 70,000 metric tons in the third quarter.
To view Marine Harvest's first-quarter results, click here.
August 13, 2009
