Financially challenged Chilean salmon-farming firm Nova Austral continued to post losses in the second quarter of 2024, following a trend of several quarters of losses that was briefly interrupted in Q1 when the company turned a net profit of USD 400,000 (EUR 362,000).
During the second quarter of the year, Nova Austral’s top-line revenues reached USD 13.8 million (EUR 12.5 million), a 53 percent drop when compared to the USD 29.4 million (EUR 26.6 million) posted in Q2 2023. This drop, according to the firm, was mainly due to a 51 percent year-over-year reduction in volumes sold.
The company’s total sales also decreased in all of its markets compared to Q2 2023. During Q2 2024, the U.S. and Europe continued to be the company’s main markets, comprising 98 percent of Nova Austral’s net sales, but shipments to the U.S. fell 48 percent year over year to USD 8.8 million (EUR 8 million) and 41 percent to the E.U., totaling USD 4.1 million (EUR 3.7 million) in the period.
Nova Austral’s last 12 months (LTM) harvest decreased 46 percent year over year to 8,700 metric tons (MT) due to lower average weights and a delay in the harvest at a few sites.
Cost of goods sold outpaced revenues during the quarter, coming in at USD 15.5 million (EUR 14 million), which Nova Austral said was due to higher ex-cage costs. When considering operational expenses and fair value, the company posted a loss of USD 9.4 million (EUR 8.5 million) in EBIT – falling 17 percent compared to a negative EBIT of USD 8 million (EUR 7.2 million) in the same quarter of 2023.
Financial expenses, meanwhile, increased 7 percent year over year to USD 13.8 million (EUR 12.5 million) largely in an attempt to service company debt, leading to net losses of USD 23.4 million (EUR 21.2 million) – 13 percent more in the red compared to net losses of USD 20.6 million (EUR 18.6 million) in the same period last year.
The company said that during Q2, it had six farm sites operating and plans to stock three more sites before the end of the year.
In August, a Chilean court accepted an appeal filed by Nova Austral to reorganize its operations, striking down a previous court resolution that had declared the company bankrupt and allowing the company to advance with its planned reorganization process.
