Stolt Sea Farm parent company Stolt-Nielsen Limited reported the land-based turbot and sole farming company enjoyed an increase in revenue and profit in Q3 2024.
Stolt Sea Farm reported revenue of USD 33.6 million (EUR 30.4 million) in Q3 2024, up from USD 31 million (EUR 28.1 million) in Q3 2023. The company’s Q3 operating profit also increased to USD 8.7 million (EUR 7.8 million) before fair-value adjustment of biomass, up 43 percent from USD 6.1 million (EUR 5.5 million) in 2023.
“Stolt Sea Farm had a record quarterly performance on both operating profit and EBITDA excluding the fair -alue adjustment due to higher prices and good volumes,” Stolt-Nielsen CEO Udo Lange said. “[We] have delivered record results.”
The company’s EBITDA excluding fair-value adjustment in Q3 2024 reached USD 10.7 million (EUR 9.7 million), up 17.6 percent from the USD 9.1 million (EUR 8.2 million) it posted in 2023.
Stolt-Nielsen CFO Jens Gruner-Hegge said the company reports its results excluding fair-value adjustments to remove that figure's volatility from its results.
“We think it’s more interesting for the markets and for investors to really see the underlying performance development of the group and of Stolt Sea Farm, versus this more periodic noise,” he said.
The first nine months of the year have been positive for Stolt Sea Farm, with the company posting an operating profit of USD 23.8 million (EUR 21.6 million) in 2024, up from USD 16.2 million (EUR 14.7 million) in 2023.
The company said higher prices for both turbot and sole helped boost its earnings in Q3 2024 compared to Q3 2023. Stolt Sea Farm’s sales volumes of sole increased by 5.9 percent, while its sales of turbot decreased by 5.8 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
Stolt Sea Farm said production costs for both turbot and sole are being impacted by inflationary pressures on both energy and feed costs, but that its improved production yield in sole has offset those cost increases.
Lange said Q4 is typically a good period for fish growth at the company, and that Stolt Sea Farm’s focus will be maintaining its sales levels and preparing its customers for peak demand during the holiday periods.
“Looking forward, we believe that favorable market fundamentals are expected to remain across our businesses,” Lange said. “On the back of the record performance at Stolt Sea Farm, we expect stable year-over-year volumes at firm pricing levels.”
Gruner-Hegge said Stolt-Nielsen has made USD 5 million (EUR 4.5 million) in capital expenditures on Stolt Sea Farm, which are part of ongoing projects that the company is developing. The company embarked on a major expansion of its sole hatchery in Cervo, Spain, in 2024 after gaining approvals on the project from the Galician government in August 2023.
Stolt Sea Farm President Jordi Trias said the project was a milestone for the company and signals its confidence in the business, and its goal of reaching 23,000 metric tons of turbot and sole production by 2035.
