Faroe Islands-based salmon-farming firm Bakkafrost closed out 2025 with solid biological performance but relatively stagnant financial results as high global supply dampened prices, affecting salmon producers across the globe for the majority of last year.
According to its Q4 2025 report, Bakkafrost harvested 27,891 gutted weight tons (GWT) in the three-month period – up from the 20,478 GWT recorded a year previously. That increase was largely driven by harvest volume spikes in the Faroe Islands, where Bakkafrost harvested 23,312 GWT compared to 16,638 GWT a year prior. The group’s Scottish operations, meanwhile, harvested 4,579 GWT in Q4, which was up 19 percent from the 3,840 GWT recorded in Q4 2024.
In the full year of 2025, Bakkafrost harvested 106,823 GWT, with 83,638 GWT produced in the Faroes and 23,185 GWT in Scotland.
Q4 revenues from Bakkafrost’s Faroese operations rose to DKK 1.54 billion (USD 244.6 million, EUR 206.2 million), while the region’s operational EBIT increased to DKK 392 million (USD 62.2 million, EUR 52.5 million), reflecting strong biological performance and record-high biomass levels at sea, according to the firm. Its Scottish operations generated revenues of DKK 303 million (USD 48.1 million, EUR 40.6 million) but reported an operational EBIT loss of DKK 97 million (USD 15.4 million, EUR 13 million), impacted by lower prices and the harvesting and emptying of the company’s Portree farming site in the Isle of Skye, which suffered from a Pasteurella outbreak earlier in the year.
The company’s Q4 farming EBIT per kilogram improved in the Faroes to DKK 7.34 (USD 1.16, EUR 0.98), while Scotland remained loss-making at DKK -23.92 (USD -3.79, EUR -3.20) per kilogram, reflecting incident-related costs, such as the Portree outbreak, and other biological challenges.
Elsewhere in the firm, Bakkafrost’s Fishmeal, Oil, and Feed segment sourced 39,826 metric tons (MT) of raw material in Q4 2025, with an operational EBIT margin of 10 percent. Bakkafrost’s Services arm maintained a stable EBIT margin of 13 percent, supported by upgrades to smolt transfer vessels that are expected to continually improve fish welfare and operational reliability, particularly in Scotland.
For the closing three months of 2025, the company delivered total operational EBIT of DKK 295 million (USD 46.8 million, EUR 39.5 million), which was up from DKK 280 million (USD 44.4 million, EUR 37.5 million) a year earlier.
For the full year, the group’s revenues amounted to DKK 7 billion (USD 1.1 billion, EUR 937.2 million), and its operational EBIT was DKK 888 million (USD 150 million, EUR 118.9 million) – both of which were down from 2024’s DKK 7.3 billion (USD 1.2 billion, EUR 977.3 million) and DKK 1.6 billion (USD 254.2 million, EUR 214.2 million), respectively.
Despite the weaker pricing environment in 2025, the company said in its Q4 report that its financial position remains strong. Therefore, Bakkafrost’s board has proposed a dividend of DKK 3.45 (USD 0.54, EUR 0.46) per share, in line with its long-term policy of paying out 30 percent to 50 percent of earnings per share.
Operationally, the group delivered a “solid performance” in Q4, driven by strong biological development in the Faroe Islands, Bakkafrost CEO Regin Jacobsen said, adding that this supports improved cost efficiency and operational robustness, which remains a key priority across the business.
In its Q4 report, Bakkafrost noted that freshwater operations in the Faroe Islands delivered a record year across key metrics, including smolt numbers, biomass, and mortality levels. In Scotland, the freshwater segment continued its ramp-up in Q4, with the company’s expansion of its Applecross hatchery facility increasingly central to the strategy of producing larger smolt and reducing risk.
Looking forward, Bakkafrost expects salmon supply to tighten from Q2 2026 onward, which should help normalize prices.
“We anticipate we’ll be moving from an oversupply situation into a tighter market from the second quarter of 2026 and also into 2027,” Jacobsen said.
Over the course of this year, Bakkafrost expects to harvest approximately 112,000 gutted weight tons (GWT), comprising around 92,000 GWT from the Faroe Islands and 20,000 GWT from Scotland, with the harvest spread evenly by quarter. At the same time, the company will continue its transition toward larger, higher-quality smolt to improve fish health, growth rates, and cost efficiency.
Bakkafrost expects smolt transfers this year of around 20 million fish in the Faroe Islands at an average weight of 440 grams and around 10 million smolts in Scotland at an average weight of 179 grams.
In value-added products, the company plans to contract 15 percent to 20 percent of expected 2026 harvest volumes, reducing exposure following changes to the Faroese revenue tax regime.
The group’s longer-term objective is to increase its harvest up to 162,000 GWT by 2030.
“The strategy is clear: reduce the risk, increase productivity, and drive organic growth," the company stated.
To achieve those goals, Bakkafrost has laid out a DKK 5 billion (USD 794.2 million, EUR 669.4 million) investment plan for 2026 to 2030, aimed at reducing biological risk, improving efficiency, and enabling sustainable growth. The plan includes expanded smolt capacity in the Faroe Islands, feed and farming investments, new processing capacity in Scotland, and two new dual-freshwater treatment vessels. A total of DKK 245 million (USD 38.9 million, EUR 32.8 million) is earmarked for energy transition initiatives, too.
