Norwegian salmon farming company Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett posted lower revenues in FY 2024, but improved operating profit and investments resulted in a turnaround from FY 2023 losses.
The company – which operates subsidiaries Kvarøy Salmon and Kvarøy Oppdrettservice – posted sales revenue of NOK 690 million (USD 67.9 million, EUR 57.8 million) in FY 2024, down from the NOK 721 million (USD 70.9 million EUR 60.4 million) it posted in FY 2023. Despite the lower revenue, the company’s operating profits jumped significantly, rising to NOK 65.1 million (USD 6.4 million, EUR 5.4 million) for the year, up from just NOK 5.3 million (USD 521,000, EUR 444,000) the year prior.
According to the company’s results, posted in Norway’s Brønnøysund Register Centre, that increase was related to a lower cost of goods sold and lower payroll costs, which drove down expenses from NOK 718 million (USD 70.6 million, EUR 60.2 million) in FY 2023 to NOK 628 million (USD 61.8 million, EUR 52.6 million) in 2024.
The company’s total net profit for the year also improved significantly. In FY 2023, the company posted a NOK 112 million (USD 11 million, EUR 9.4 million) loss, and earlier this year it laid off some of its U.S. employees.
In FY 2024, its results improved dramatically, reaching a profit of NOK 107 million (USD 10.5 million, EUR 8.9 million). A big part of that increase came from its financial income and financial expense, which saw the company receive NOK 68 million (USD 6.7 million, EUR 5.7 million) in income from investments in subsidiaries – which it saw no income from in 2023 – and a gain of NOK 61 million (USD 6 million, EUR 5.1 million) in FY 2024 as the “result of financial items” compared to a loss of NOK 41 million (USD 4 million, EUR 3.4 million) in 2023.
According to its filings, the company has a total of five licenses with a maximum allowable biomass of 4,084 metric tons (MT).
“Operations in 2024 were good, although there were some challenges related to mortality,” the company said in its results.
The company also said in its results that its subsidiaries had “a challenging year” in 2024. Despite that, the company said those negative results are “on the mend” and the company has a positive outlook in 2025 for both Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett and its two subsidiaries.
Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett did acknowledge that the price situation for the company in 2025 is “a little tighter.”
“However, good work has been done to reduce the cost level and secure prices in a longer perspective so that the outlook for 2025 is good,” Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett said.
In February, Kvarøy Fiskeoppdrett CEO Alf-Goran Knutsen told SeafoodSource the layoffs the company made were designed to adjust the cost of running the company, and that he was optimistic about the future of the company.
“I have a pretty good track record of helping brands grow their sales. I have been in the food business for 25 years now … and my past three positions have been in aquaculture,” he said.
He also told SeafoodSource that 2024’s numbers were projected to be much better – a statement proven by the company’s positive results – and that 2025 was looking even better than that.
“We are working to turn this around and get more sales volume so we can grow as a company again [and be] sustainable,” Knutsen said.
