Norwegian salmon-farming company Måsøval reported a negative EBIT in Q3 2024 as it dealt with multiple biological challenges.
The company reported group revenues of NOK 530 million (USD 47.9 million, EUR 45.7 million) in Q3 2024, down from NOK 670 million (USD 60.5 million, EUR 57.7 million) posted in the same quarter of 2023. Of that total, its sales revenue from salmon dropped to NOK 492 million (USD 44.4 million, EUR 42.4 million) from NOK 617 million (USD 55.7 million, EUR 53.2 million).
The company posted an EBIT loss of NOK 138.6 million (USD 12.5 million, EUR 11. 9 million) in Q3 2024, down from a positive EBIT of NOK 136 million (USD 12.3 million, EUR 11.7 million). Its operational EBIT dropped to a loss of NOK 60 million (USD 5.4 million, EUR 5.2 million), down from an operational EBIT gain of NOK 113 million (USD 10.2 million, EUR 9.7 million).
"Q3 was a challenging quarter for Måsøval. Higher sea temperatures than seasonally normal in our region resulted in high sea lice pressure, which hampered growth and elevated our delousing costs. Moreover, we experienced ISA on two sites in the quarter,” Måsøval CEO Helge Kvalvik said. “Harvesting salmon with low weight resulted in high cost and low prices.”
Måsøval discovered infectious salmon anemia (ISA) at its salmon-farming sites Espnestaren and Måøydraga, which forced the company to undertake an accelerated harvest schedule of fish at low average weights, generating low prices and high harvest costs. Harvested volumes across the company increased slightly to 7,095 metric tons (MT), up from 7,037 MT, in part due to the ISA harvests.
“All fish infected with ISA was ...
