Higher suppliers and lower prices worldwide took a toll on Scottish Salmon Co.’s (SSC) first-quarter results, which it published on Tuesday.
The company reported an operating loss (before biomass adjustment) of GBP 500,000 on a harvest of 3,088 metric tons in the first quarter of 2012, compared to an operating profit of GBP 6.6 million on a harvest of 5,954 metric tons in the first quarter of 2011.
The company’s revenues totaled GBP 12.7 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to GBP 25.4 million in the first quarter of 2011.
The Scottish Salmon Co. is shielded to a degree by long-term contractual relationships with its customers, but the variation in its harvest has led to shorter-term arrangements, which impacted the average sales price.
As for the 2,866-metric-ton drop in the company’s harvest in the first quarter of 2012, “the relatively low volumes harvested by SSC in this period are a natural consequence of current production cycles and affected the unit cost of processing with the loss of volume efficiencies. While this will continue into the second quarter, production levels are planned to increase in the second half of the year.”
Looking ahead, Stewart McLelland, the company’s CEO, remains optimistic despite a “challenging” year.
“It is our expectation that 2012 will continue to be a challenging year for the salmon market. However, we remain focused on the long term and look to build our business around the principles of environmental excellence, innovation and sustainability and remain confident in our growth plans to produce 40,000 tons a year,” said McLelland.
“Our environmental innovations and high quality product are helping to secure strong customer relationships both on the domestic and export markets,” he continued. “While plans to both balance and increase production were boosted significantly by consent for new farming facilities at Loch Torridon and also the harvesting station at Arnish.”
