Following a difficult year in 2023 that featured price fluctuations, uncertainty in key markets, and decreased purchasing power for consumers, Iceland Seafood International (ISI) turned around its financial performance in 2024, with all divisions in the group returning to profit, according to CEO Ægir Páll Friðbertsson.
In a statement accompanying Reykjavik-headquartered ISI’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results, Friðbertsson said it was “gratifying” to see the positive operational results.
“[Our performance] was very positive, given that the company was selling complex inventories that were generating negative earnings, in addition to the fact that interest costs rose significantly between 2023 and 2024, amounting to approximately EUR 3.6 million [USD 3.8 million],” he said.
According to the results, ISI recorded group sales of EUR 129.2 million (USD 135.3 million) in Q4 2024, representing a decrease of 16 percent on the same period the year prior. This, however, contributed to a full-year total of EUR 443.2 million (USD 464.3 million) – which was up 3 percent from 2023.
Its normalized profit before tax (PBT) for 2024 increased from EUR 700,000 (USD 733,279) to EUR 7.4 million (USD 7.8 million), while its EBITDA totaled EUR 18 million (USD 18.9 million) – up from EUR 11.3 million (USD 11.8 million) in 2023.
By division, Value Added Southern Europe (VA S-Europe) recorded Q4 sales of EUR 61.1 million (USD 64 million), an increase of 6.5 percent on the corresponding period of 2023. The division’s normalized PBT for the year was EUR 5.8 million (USD 6.1 million), representing an increase of EUR 5.1 million (USD 5.3 million).
Value Added Northern Europe (VA N-Europe) achieved a 13 percent increase in sales in the final quarter of last year, totaling EUR 17.2 million (USD 18 million). Its sales for 2024 as a whole totaled EUR 57.3 million (USD 60 million) – a 6 percent increase on the previous year.
The firm said that higher-than-expected salmon prices in Q1 and part of Q2 impacted VA N-Europe’s margins, presenting challenges similar to those faced in 2023, but these leveled off in the latter part of the year, paving the way for the positive performance overall.
ISI’s Sales & Distribution (S&D) segment recorded a Q4 sales increase of 22 percent to EUR 53.6 million (USD 56.1 million). For the full year, it recorded a 2 percent rise, hauling in a total of EUR 181 million (USD 189.6 million).
Fresh cod and haddock sales, as well as frozen-at-sea cod and haddock sold to the U.K. and U.S., were cited as S&D’s “key performance drivers.”
For 2025, ISI is guiding a normalized PBT outlook of EUR 7.5 million to EUR 9.5 million (USD 7.9 million to USD 10 million). It is also expecting cod prices to remain high and for salmon prices to increase in the first part of the year and then come down in the latter half, similar to 2024.
The report further explained that cod prices are likely to remain high because of quota reductions and the continued U.S. ban on Russian fish, which is affecting all cod prices and is expected to have a long-term effect on cod markets.
“We expect all divisions to perform according to budget, but that will depend on the cod situation in the coming months. We are, and will be, closely monitoring the situation and reporting on it in our quarterly reports,” ISI said.
Though the firm said divisions will perform according to budget, it added that the cod situation could generate supply chain challenges and that half of the company’s interest-bearing debt will need to be refinanced, with that work already underway.
Both factors may affect the company’s operations in 2025, Friðbertsson said.
“The company's main focuses in the coming months will, therefore, be to strengthen the supply chain, refinancing, and continuing work on reviewing the company's strategy with the sole aim of providing a stronger foundation for the operation and strengthening it for the future,” he said.
