Bergen, Norway-headquartered Lerøy Seafood Group (LSG) reported increased revenue and operational EBIT, as well as a larger harvest year over year, in the last quarter of 2024.
According to the group’s Q4 2024 report, LSG reported a consolidated operational EBIT of NOK 799 million (USD 70.9 million, EUR 68.2 million) in the period, representing an increase of NOK 35 million (USD 3.1 million, EUR 3 million) on the corresponding period of the previous year.
Its revenues for the three-month period totaled NOK 8.48 billion (USD 752.7 million, EUR 723.6 million) – up 3 percent year over year – while its salmon and trout harvest was 20 percent higher at a record 56,776 gutted weight tons (GWT).
“We also see a positive biological development coming into the first quarter of 2025, which is encouraging for cost and volume development,” Lerøy CEO Henning Beltestad said.
By division, LSG’s Farming segment, comprising the three Norwegian farming regions of Lerøy Aurora – located in Troms and Finnmark – Lerøy Midt – located in Nordmøre and Trøndelag – and Lerøy Sjøtroll – located in Vestland – achieved a Q4 2024 operational EBIT of NOK 594 million (USD 52.7 million, EUR 50.7 million), marking a NOK 62 million (USD 5.5 million, EUR 5.3 million) improvement.
The company noted this was achieved despite lower salmon spot prices in the period.
After a challenging 2023, Scottish Sea Farms, which is co-owned by Lerøy and fellow salmon-farming firm SalMar, achieved a record harvest volume of 9,026 GWT and an operational EBIT of NOK 93 million (USD 8.3 million, EUR 7.9 million) in Q4 2024. These totals contributed to a record full-year 2024 harvest of 40,000 GWT and operational EBIT of NOK 555 million (USD 49.2 million, EUR 47.3 million), versus 24,884 GWT and an EBIT loss of NOK 304 million (USD 27 million, EUR 25.9 million) in 2023, respectively.
Overall, profit contribution from associates and joint ventures, before fair value adjustment related to biological assets, amounted to NOK 15 million (USD 1.3 million, EUR 1.3 million) in Q4 2024, compared to a loss of NOK 12 million (USD 1.1 million, EUR 1 million) in Q4 2023. For the full year, that total stood at NOK 117 million (USD 10.4 million, EUR 10 million), versus a loss of NOK 150 million (USD 13.3 million, EUR 12.8 million) for 2023.
Elsewhere, LSG’s Wild Catch segment was challenged by low quotas, resulting in its Q4 2024 revenues falling by NOK 180 million (USD 16 million, EUR 15.4 million) year over year to NOK 510 million (USD 45.3 million, EUR 43.5 million).
The segment reported a positive operational EBIT of NOK 6 million (USD 532,415, EUR 511,924) for Q4 and NOK 130 million (USD 11.5 million, EUR 11.1 million) for the full year, versus a loss of NOK 13 million (USD 1.2 million, EUR 1.1 million) for Q4 2023 and gain of NOK 278 million (USD 24.6 million, EUR 23.7 million) for FY 2023.
Its catch totals amounted to 9,083 GWT of fish and shrimp in Q4, which was down from the 12,481 GWT caught in Q4 2023, giving it a total for the year of 64,991 GWT, compared to 75,893 GWT in 2023.
In the report, Lerøy warned that earnings in its Wild Catch segment will continue to be significantly affected by low quotas. As such, LSG is expecting 2025 – and potentially even 2026 – to be challenging.
More positively, with operations in 14 countries, the firm’s Value-Added, Processing, Sales, and Distribution (VAPS&D) segment delivered the highest earnings in its history in Q4, totaling NOK 8.16 billion (USD 723.2 million, EUR 695.6 million), with the company attributing the record to operational improvements and increased utilization of its value chain.
The division’s operational EBIT for the three-month period amounted to NOK 275 million (USD 24.4 million, EUR 23.4 million), up from NOK 271 million (USD 24 million, EUR 23.1 million) a year previously.
“I'm really satisfied with what we are doing in all the major markets where we have these industrial operations, and I'm really glad to see the development is going the right direction – that all the efforts we are doing every day in these markets are showing results,” Beltestad said.
LSG is also making good progress toward the 2025 strategic targets it outlined at its 2022 Capital Markets Day, which included an annual salmonid harvest of 205,000 GWT, a wild catch EBIT of NOK 500 million (USD 44.4 million, EUR 42.7 million), and an EBIT of NOK 1.25 billion (USD 110.9 million, EUR 106.7 million) for its VAPS&D segment, according to Beltestad.
He added that long-term efforts to improve genetics, roe, and smolt quality, general process improvements, and the use of shielding technology are all already bearing fruit and will gain further momentum in 2025.
