Oslo, Norway-based salmon-farming company Cermaq posted a slight profit in the three months ending 30 June 2024 – which is the first quarter of its fiscal year – reversing the losses it had in Q1 2023.
In results posted by its parent company Mitsubishi, which purchased Cermaq in 2014 for NOK 8.9 million (then USD 1.4 million, EUR 1.1 million), Cermaq had a three-month profit of JPY 800 million (USD 5.5 million, EUR 5 million), compared to a loss of JPY 3 billion (USD 20.8 million, EUR 19 million) in Q1 2023.
Part of the gain was related to Cermaq acquiring an additional affiliate – though the company did not reveal the name. According to the results, Cermaq had a valuation gain of JPY 3.1 billion (USD 21.5 million, EUR 19.6 million) thanks to the acquisition.
European salmon prices reached NOK 138 (USD 12.49, EUR 11.40) per kilogram, as supplies of “superior” salmon were low due to farming issues, further helping Cermaq's bottom line. However, prices dropped to NOK 75 (USD 6.79, EUR 6.19) by 1 August.
Cermaq also benefited from U.S. prices after fillet sales reached USD 6.50 (EUR 5.93) per pound in April and May due to reduced supplies of salmon from Chile. A harmful algal bloom event in Chile in January caused mortalities and supply shortages beginning in January 2024.
Chilean supply has since rebounded and Chilean salmon fillets are now selling for USD 5.70 (EUR 5.20) per pound in the U.S., according to Mitsubishi.
Cermaq Chile had the largest sales for the company, achieving a sales volume of 20,447 metric tons (MT), gutted weight equivalent (GWE). Cermaq Norway had sales of 12,547 MT GWE, and Cermaq Canada had 5,135 MT GWE in sales.
Cermaq Canada’s production has been hampered by the government announcing a salmon-farming phase-out in parts of British Columbia. The decision impacted some of Cermaq’s farms, and the company was forced to cull millions of smolts that no longer had space in now-closed farms.
More recently, Cermaq announced it is focusing on a new USD 100 million (EUR 91 million) state-of-the-art recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farm in Chile. According to the company the new farm will use fully-automated processes to produce more robust smolts that can maximize performance in the seawater phase.
Mitsubishi as a whole also posted increased profit for Q1 2024, despite a small drop in revenue. The company posted a profit before tax of JPY 498.8 billion (USD 3.4 billion, EUR 3.1 billion), up from JPY 444 billion (USD 3.1 billion, EUR 2.8 billion). The increase was in spite of a drop in revenue from JPY 4.73 trillion (USD 32.8 billion, EUR 29.9 billion) in Q1 2023 to JPY 4.68 billion (USD 32.5 billion, EUR 29.6 billion) in Q1 2024.
