Two Middle Eastern seafood companies – Oman Fisheries Company and Saudi Fisheries Company – separately posted reduced revenues year over year for the first half of 2025, continuing a string of negative financial periods for both firms.
Muscat, Oman-based Oman Fishing Company (OFC) recently reported a 74 percent decline in revenue for the six-month period, dropping to OMR 1 million (USD 2.6 million, EUR 2.2 million) from the OMR 3.9 million (USD 10.1 million, EUR 8.7 million) posted in H1 2024 as the company grappled with liquidity constraints that pushed its accumulated losses to OMR 20.7 million (USD 53.7 million, EUR 46 million).
The firm’s board of directors, chaired by Shahid Mahmood al Bulushi, said its efforts to liquidate aged inventory affected overall output volumes in the period and resulted in “a complete erosion of the share capital of the company.”
The board explained that it is staying optimistic it can reverse the downward trends through structural changes and a push for new business opportunities.
That push has included searching for new export contracts like the one the firm recently signed with a Chinese partner for the annual supply of demersal fish worth between OMR 4 million and OMR 5 million (USD 10.4 million and USD 13 million, EUR 8.9 million and EUR 11.1 million), as well as a supply agreement it signed with global pelagic fish trading firm J. Marr.
OFC has also courted regional financial lenders to secure additional credit lines as part of its strategy to address its liquidity and working capital constraints.
That work recently resulted in a OMR 500,000 (USD 1.1 million, EUR 1.3 million) working capital facility loan from Oman Development Bank.
In August, OFC was also awarded a new fishing license with an annual quota of 10,000 metric tons – a development the company says “underscores the [Omani] government’s confidence in OFC’s operational capacity and strategic direction.”
Still, the financial struggles have led to heavy personnel turnover at the company.
Late last year, OFC fired its chief operating officer just 18 months after the company’s board of directors confirmed his appointment. That came after the firm cycled through a rotating group of CEOs. Sulaiman Al-Ghannami served as the firm’s CEO for one year from late 2021 to late 2022. He was replaced by Nabeel Salim Rwidi, who resigned from the top role in July 2024.
In neighboring Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Fisheries Company (SFCO) also reported depressed revenues in H1 2025
The firm’s revenues for the period declined 86.6 percent to SAR 2.1 million (USD 559,000, EUR 481,000), compared to SAR 15.7 million (USD 4.2 million, EUR 3.6 million) recorded in the same period in 2024.
However, due to shrinking farm-related costs for shrimp and fish production, as well as low operating expenses due to slow business activity, SFCO posted a 70.4 percent decline in its net losses for the period.
The firm has instituted several actions to slow its runaway losses and created a new aquaculture company late last year, betting that a government goal to increase fish-farming output along the country's 2,600-kilometer coastline will pan out.
One of the latest moves to turn around poor performance came in July, when SFCO applied to the Saudi Capital Markets Authority for approval to increase its share capital through a rights issue with a value of SAR 334.9 million (USD 89.2 million EUR 76.4 million). It also announced plans to diversify its investment portfolio to other economic sectors to cushion itself against the effects of the frequently fluctuating Saudi seafood market.
Nevertheless, similar to Oman Fisheries, SFCO has experienced heavy personnel turnover.
In May, SFCO fired CEO Mahmoud Abdel-Hay and announced Rayan Mohammed Al-Mansour as the new CEO, marking the fourth such change in under three years.
