Bodø, Norway-based salmon-farming firm Gigante Salmon increased its financing by approximately NOK 361 million (USD 34.2 million, EUR 30.7 million) in the second quarter of this year, bolstering its coffers before its first harvest is scheduled to take place in 2025.
Delivering its Q2 2024 report on 20 August, the company confirmed it secured NOK 120 million (USD 11.4 million, EUR 10.2 million) in long-term financing from SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge and backed by Export Finance Norway, while a separate private placement in June generated NOK 241 million (USD 22.9 million, EUR 20.5 million).
“We are delighted by the trust from investors, and with strengthened financing and a well-functioning facility, it is a pleasure to work in such a dedicated and competent organization,” Gigante Salmon CFO Rune Johansen said.
On 30 June, there were nearly 161,000 fish in the facility, each with an average weight of 418 grams. The firm stated these fish have “healthy appetites” and that weekly health assessments have been “more than satisfactory.” The firm’s first harvest at the company’s Lille Indre Rosøy facility in Rødøy, Norway is expected to take place in Q2 2025.
No sales income is expected for the firm before the first harvest. Meanwhile, operating costs in Q2 were just under NOK 1.1 million (USD 104,288, EUR 93,639), compared to NOK 870,000 (USD 82,481, EUR 74,065) in Q2 2023. As a result, the operating loss for the period was NOK 1.1 million, an improvement on Q2 2023’s loss of NOK 1.6 million (USD 151,260, EUR 135,982).
Also during Q2, Gigante sought to optimize the composition of its feed and how it dispenses it, with Skretting supplying a feed to the company that’s specially adapted to its facility. It also identified a short-term solution to problems related to sludge, dead-fish removal, and cleaning that became apparent in the first quarter of this year. The expectation is that a long-term solution will involve automation, according to the report.
Though the Lille Indre Rosøy facility is gearing up for its first harvest, it is also simultaneously undergoing construction in two phases: Phase 1 covers a grow-out basin where smolts grow from 100 grams to 1 kilogram in 11 months. Phase 2 covers two production basins where salmon grows from 1 kilogram to harvest weight at around 4 to 7 kilograms.
"Work to lay the foundation of basin 1 is underway and progressing according to plan. The floor of the drainage channel is being poured and water pipes are being laid. The technical room that will serve basin 1 is under construction and is scheduled to be completed during Q3," the company said.
Upon completion, the Rødøy site will have a yearly production capacity of up to 16,000 metric tons (MT) of head-on-gutted fish, based on a licensed maximum allowable biomass of 13,731 MT.
