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...
