Bergen, Norway-headquartered salmon-farming firm Grieg Seafood made some progress in the first quarter of 2025 with the transformation program it launched earlier this year, but the firm still had a difficult period financially, according to interim CEO Nina Willumsen Grieg.
Willumsen Grieg delivered the firm’s Q1 2025 results after just eight weeks in the CEO role following the company’s announcement at the end of March that then-CEO Andreas Kvame would be stepping down. She has, however, been with the company for the past 10 years, the last four of which she spent heading up its Rogaland operations.
“I'm entering this role at a challenging time for the company. Grieg Seafood has a long and proud history and a strong asset portfolio, but we're not happy with the results from the previous years. The combination of an ambitious capex program, biological challenges, and a turbulent geopolitical situation has left us with a financial situation that isn't sustainable,” she said. “Ensuring financial robustness is at the top of our agenda. I believe both [Grieg CFO] Magnus [Johannesen] and myself can bring new perspectives to the company while building on the foundation that is [here].”
Regarding the financial transformation program the firm initiated earlier this year, Willumsen Grieg highlighted that the reallocation of resources to the group’s Norwegian asset base is the main strategic change involved in the process.
“This is not only a shift toward Norway but also a shift from growth to profitability,” she said. “We will prioritize initiatives that strengthen equity, reduce debt, and protect cash flow to maximize shareholder value.”
In the first phase of the transformation strategy, which is now completed, Grieg placed a NOK 2 billion (USD 197.2 million, EUR 173.9 million) hybrid bond that will largely be used to repay the group’s debts and launched the sale of its smolt/post-smolt facility in Finnmark. Additionally, it reduced its committed capex in Canada by NOK 600 million (USD 59.2 million, EUR 52.2 million) by demobilizing one of its sites in Newfoundland...
