Salmon-farming company Masoval reported a significant drop in its Q4 2024 earnings as operational challenges at its Farming Mid segment resulted in high costs.
The company posted NOK 572 million (USD 51 million, EUR 48.9 million) in operating revenue in Q4 2024, dropping from the NOK 688 million (USD 61.9 million, EUR 58.8 million) it posted in Q4 2023. According to the company’s results, the company’s salmon sales revenue dropped from NOK 682 million (USD 61.3 million, EUR 58.3 million) in Q4 2023 to NOK 452 million (USD 40.6 million, EUR 38.6 million) in Q4 2024.
The company’s harvested volumes also dropped, falling to 4,725 metric tons (MT) in Q4 2024 from the 7,927 MT it posted in Q4 2023.
Alongside revenue and harvest drops, the company’s operational EBIT also dropped to just NOK 3.1 million (USD 278,000, EUR 265,000) in Q4 2024, down from NOK 112 million (USD 10 million, EUR 9.5 million) in Q4 2023.
According to Masoval, its Farming Mid segment struggled under what it called “extraordinary sea lice pressure.” That high sea lice pressure forced the company to undergo intensive delousing, and that, combined with accelerated harvesting at two sites, reduced harvests at the location.
All told, Masoval harvested just 1,976 MT of salmon in Q4 2024 from Farming Mid, well under half the 6,784 MT it harvested in Q4 2023.
“The fish harvested from this generation had a low harvest weight, resulting in low price achievement and higher cost,” Masoval said.
The combination of lower weights and higher costs pushed the operational EBIT per kilogram of salmon to a loss of NOK 3.30 (USD 0.29, EUR 0.28) per every kilogram in Q4 2024, compared to a gain of NOK 18.90 (USD 1.70, EUR 1.61) in Q4 2023. That pushed Farming Mid's operational EBIT to a loss of NOK 6.4 million (USD 575,000, EUR 547,000), which was the main driver behind Masoval’s lower performance.
“Farming Mid is below what should be expected of this region,” Masoval CEO Helge Kvalvik said.
In contrast to the segment’s struggles, Farming West posted a significant improvement on its performance. Masoval harvested 2,749 MT of salmon from the region in Q4 2024, up from 1,143 MT in Q4 2023. Total operating revenues more than doubled from NOK 83.7 million (USD 7.5 million, EUR 7.1 million) in Q4 2023 to NOK 219 million (USD 19.7 million, EUR 18.7 million) in Q4 2024, and its operational EBIT increased to NOK 48.3 million (USD 4.3 million, EUR 4.1 million) in the period, up from NOK 9.3 million (USD 836,000, EUR 795,000).
“Farming West increased harvest weights and production to offset reduced production volume in region mid,” Masoval said. “Biological performance in Farming West was above expectations, and operationally, Q4 was a quarter with continuous improvement in sea and smolt production.”
For the full year, Masoval posted a harvest volume of 25,058 MT of gutted weight tonnage, which includes harvesting on a commercial co-location, up from 24,531 MT in FY 2023. Group revenue increased slightly to NOK 2.43 billion (USD 218 million, EUR 207 million), up from NOK 2.4 billion (USD 215 million, EUR 205 million).
“2024 was another important year in our growth as a company. Since 2017, we have managed to increase harvesting volume every single year,” Kvalvik said. “Moreover, 2024 was important in order to optimize our value chain and to add harvesting capacity and fully owned sales department.”
By segment, Farming Mid’s difficult fourth quarter resulted in slightly lower revenues and harvests for its full year. The segment harvested 16,581 MT of salmon in FY 2024, down from 16,886 MT in FY 2023. Total operating revenue also fell slightly to NOK 1.53 billion (USD 137 million, EUR 130 million), down from NOK 1.55 billion (USD 139 million, EUR 132 million).
Operational EBIT in Farming Mid dropped as well to NOK 412 million (USD 37 million, EUR 35 million) in FY 2024, down from NOK 432 million (USD 38 million, EUR 36 million) in FY 2023.
