Faroe Islands-headquartered salmon-farming firm Bakkafrost reported a dip in revenues but an increase in profits during the fourth quarter of 2024, particularly pointing toward the performance of its Farming Scotland (SCT) segment as a driver of growth.
The group achieved Q4 2024 revenues of DKK 1.47 billion (USD 206.4 million, EUR 197 million), down from DKK 1.56 billion (USD 219 million, EUR 209.1 million) in Q4 2023. Its EBIT of DKK 280 million (USD 39.3 million, EUR 37.5 million) was also down from DKK 356 million (USD 50 million, EUR 47.7 million) in the same period a year prior, but its profit increased by DKK 85 million (USD 11.9 million, EUR 11.4 million) to DKK 477 million (USD 67 million, EUR 63.9 million) in the three-month span.
SCT’s Q4 2024 harvest of 3,840 metric tons (MT) gutted weight more than tripled the corresponding period of the previous year. This contributed to a full-year harvest of 27,880 MT – up from 20,598 MT in 2023. The average weight of salmon harvested by SCT in Q4 also increased significantly – by 2 kilograms to 4.8 kilograms.
This led to the segment’s Q4 2024 revenues increasing from DKK 84 million (USD 11.8 million, EUR 11.3 million) to DKK 286 million (USD 40.2 million, EUR 38.3 million) and its operational EBIT improving from DKK -104 million (USD -14.6 million, EUR -13.9 million) to DKK -31 million (USD -4.4 million, EUR -4.2 million).
Delivering Bakkafrost’s results for the closing period of 2024, CEO Regin Jacobsen confirmed that SCT is set for further growth in 2025, as the shift to produce large smolt of around 200 grams from its expanded Applecross hatchery facility has begun.
This strategy, according to Jacobsen, is expected to enhance overall fish health and growth rates.
“As we scale up the production this year and gradually replace legacy fish at our marine farms with our high-quality fish, we expect there will be a fundamental transformation of our farming operations from next year onward,” he said.
Production capacity at the expanded Applecross facility has increased around 50 percent, enabling the hatchery to produce around 3,500 MT of smolts annually. This will make Bakkafrost self-sufficient with around 14 million smolts of 250 grams, according to Jacobsen.
“As we are building a lot of capacity, there is a time lag in the utilization. Therefore, we will see capacity better utilized when the transfers increase in the second half of 2025,” Jacobsen said. “Overall, we are pleased with the de-risking of our Scottish operations in 2024. Mortality has decreased significantly, and the fish harvested in the quarter were large and contributed to the highest full year EBITDA since the acquisition.”
SCT’s Q4 2024 EBITDA was DKK 249 million (USD 35 million, EUR 33.4 million) – up 89 percent on 2020, when biological issues in Scotland began to hamper financial results.
“As we await the full replacement of legacy fish, we will continue a similar de-risking strategy in 2025 before starting the journey to ramp up in 2026,” Jacobsen said.
Bakkafrost’s Farming Faroe Islands (FO) segment delivered revenues of DKK 953 million (USD 133.8 million, EUR 127.7 million) and an operational EBIT of DKK 99.6 million (USD 14 million, EUR 13.4 million) in Q4 2024, versus DKK 909 million (USD 127.6 million, EUR 121.8 million) and DKK 64.2 million (USD 9 million, EUR 8.6 million) in Q4 2023. It harvested a slightly higher 16,638 MT of salmon in the quarter (16,005 MT in Q4 2023), which increased FO’s full-year 2024 volumes to 62,776 MT from 52,408 MT.
For the full-year 2024, Bakkafrost’s harvests totaled 90,656 MT gutted weight – up from 73,006 MT.
Bakkafrost has forecast a 2025 harvest of 97,000 MT gutted weight, with 77,000 MT coming from the Faroe Islands and 20,000 MT from Scotland.
The group has a longer-term harvest target of reaching 165,000 MT by 2028.
