After wrapping up a “demanding 2024” that featured environmental challenges such as jellyfish and sea lice, Frøya, Norway-headquartered salmon-farming firm SalMar prioritized building biomass in this year’s opening quarter.
The move resulted in the firm harvesting late in the period when spot prices were at their lowest, thereby affecting price achievement and the company’s Q1 results as a whole, according to CEO Frode Arntsen.
Many of the fish the company were able to harvest also suffered from wound issues and low average weights, specifically at its farms in central Norway, which led to a downgrading of quality, increased costs, and reduced earnings.
“All of this combined means that today [20 May 2025], we deliver a quarter that is far from where we want to be,” Arntsen said.
According to SalMar’s Q1 2025 report, the firm’s operational EBIT was NOK 798 million (USD 77.6 million, EUR 69 million), compared to NOK 1.5 billion (USD 145.8 million, EUR 129.7 million) in Q1 2024. Its operating revenues stood at almost NOK 5.2 billion (USD 505.5 million, EUR 449.5 million), which were down from the NOK 6.6 billion (USD 641.7 million, EUR 570.5 million) recorded in the same period a year previously.
The price of salmon in Q1 2025 averaged NOK 91.30 (USD 8.88, EUR 7.89) per kilogram, down from NOK 110.10 (USD 10.70, EUR 9.51) a year previously, according to the report.
The company’s overall harvest volume was 42,700 MT, and the operational EBIT per kilogram was NOK 18.70 (USD 1.82, EUR 1.62). In Q1 2024, these totals amounted to 52,900 MT and NOK 28.80 (USD 2.80, EUR 2.49), respectively.
Though the move to harvest late led to a tough financial quarter, it also resulted in the firm’s biomass reaching a seasonal record at the end of Q1, with that momentum having carried over into Q2.
“In the second quarter, we expect somewhat higher volumes through our facilities as a result of the increased volume from the farming segments,” Arntsen said. “This gives us a good starting point for the growth we expect from ourselves in 2025.”
Therefore, SalMar’s harvest guidance …
