Norwegian salmon farmer SalMar Group on Wednesday posted an operating profit (before fair value adjustment of the biomass) of NOK 282 million in the first quarter of 2011, an 85 percent increase from the corresponding quarter of 2010.
SalMar generated gross operating revenues of NOK 1 billion in the first quarter 2011, up from NOK 617.9 million in the corresponding quarter of 2010. The company also managed an operating profit per kilogram of fish (gutted weight) of NOK 16.02 for SalMar Central Norway, NOK 16.94 for SalMar Northern Norway and NOK 17.15 for Rauma.
“The first quarter was another good quarter for the SalMar Group. It is particularly satisfying to see that both SalMar Northern Norway and the Rauma segment have followed up a strong 2010 with a successful first quarter in 2011. We would have liked to see SalMar Central Norway post higher margins, but the results were negatively affected by a relatively large proportion of fixed price contract positions. Also, the secondary processing facility did not go into operation until the end of March, and the results for the quarter are therefore affected by both start-up costs and a lack of contributions from the secondary processing to cover fixed costs,” said SalMar CEO Leif Inge Nordhammer.
SalMar owns 50 percent of Norskott Havbruk AS, which operates fish farms in mainland Scotland, the Orkneys and Shetland. It also owns a 23.3 percent stake in Bakkafrost, the Faeroe Islands’ largest salmon farmer, which released its results earlier this week.
