Puerto Natales, Chile-headquartered AquaChile saw its Q1 2024 sales revenue reach USD 452 million (EUR 416 million), up 14 percent compared to Q1 2023. But the salmon-farming firm still recorded a net loss year over year.
Outlined in the consolidated Q1 2024 results of the firm’s parent company, Agrosuper, AquaChile’s consolidated EBITDA without fair value totaled USD 51 million (EUR 46.9 million) in the quarter, slipping 2.2 percent when compared to Q1 2023, mainly due to higher costs and lower sales prices. Its EBITDA margin, also not including fair value, stood at 11.2 percent, compared to 13 percent in the same quarter of 2023.
AquaChile closed the Q1 2024 with a net loss of USD 18.6 million (EUR 17.1 million), compared to a profit of USD 19.7 million (EUR 18.1 million) in Q1 2023. The company said the decrease was due to a drop in prices, cost increases, and a negative exchange difference, partially offset by a greater sales volume.
Its fresh fillet prices in the U.S. decreased by 5 percent year over year, and its fresh head-on gutted prices in Brazil decreased by 3 percent in Q1 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, Agrosuper said. It attributed lower fresh fillet prices to an increase in salmon shipments from Canada compared to the same period in 2023, along with weaker demand in the retail segment. Additionally, Q1 2024 global salmon supply decreased by 2 percent compared to the same quarter in 2023, and Chile's production dropped 12 percent over the same period.
AquaChile’s business comprised 42 percent of Agrosuper’s total revenues in the first quarter, with meat making up the other 57 percent. In the first quarter of 2023, aquaculture represented 35 percent of the parent company’s total revenues.
Agrosuper said it invested USD 7 million (EUR 6.4 million) in its aquaculture business in Q1 2024, compared to USD 12 million (EUR 11 million) in the year-ago period.
AquaChile unveiled its new operations facility in the southern Chilean town of Puerto Natales in January 2024.
