Premium Brands Holdings Corporation has posted another record-breaking quarter in Q2 2026, while its subsidiary Clearwater Seafoods continues to post losses.
Premium Brands posted a record Q2 revenue of CAD 2.4 billion (USD 1.72 billion, EUR 1.49 billion) in Q2 2026, an increase of CAD 495 million (USD 355.3 million, EUR 307.4 million), or 26.3 percent, compared to the same period of 2025. That revenue increase was partially thanks to acquisitions but was also boosted by 7.5 percent organic growth.
On the back of the higher revenue, Premium Brands posted a record Q2 adjusted EBITDA of CAD 225 million (USD 161.5 million, EUR 139.7 million), an increase of CAD 51.2 million (USD 36.7 million, EUR 31.8 million), or 29.5 percent, over the same period in 2025. The company's debt-to-EBTIDA ratio also fell from 3.8 to 1 in the quarter, down from the 4.1:1 ratio it posted at the end of Q1 2026.
“Our second quarter results provide an early indication of our earnings and cash flow potential as the investments we have made in recent years to position our company to benefit from fundamental changes occurring in the food industry begin to generate returns,” Premium Brands President and CEO George Paleologou said in a release.
In an investor call reviewing the company’s results, Paleologou called Q2 a “key inflection point” for the company by demonstrating it has made progress on some of its strategic and financial objectives, as well as its growth initiatives.
“This progress is validating the potential value to be created from our most recent capital spending cycle, which began in 2022, and involves a complete transformation of our manufacturing footprint and ability to service the U.S. market,” Paleologou said.
He added that the huge amount of capital expenditures that went into the initiative was “at times met by skepticism from the market at large” but the Q2 2026 results have helped prove that strategy right.
“The capacity we have built over the past few years was not created to produce the foods of the past but, rather, the foods of the future. This was done to position us to take advantage of the emerging new food order, which I talk about in my most recent letter to shareholders,” Paleologou said.
That letter mentioned overarching food trends that are driving consumer behavior, including a shift toward more whole foods and away from heavily processed foods. He also pointed to the increased adoption of GLP-1 drugs, which has already resulted in a shift in consumer buying habits.
“Our portfolio of best-in-class premium food products that cater to three key mega food trends, namely high in protein, convenience, and premiumization, combined with our new state-of-the-art production capacities and innovation capabilities uniquely position us to capitalize on this disruption,” Paleologou said.
Part of Premium’s spending has been on the lobster industry in the U.S. and Canada, with its purchases of multiple major lobster companies, including Ready Seafood, Starboard Seafood, Maine Coast, and Clearwater Seafoods.
While Premium Brands has seen growth as a whole, its subsidiary Clearwater Seafoods continues to post steady losses. In Q2, the company's revenue from continuing operations dropped to CAD 82.3 million (USD 59.1 million, EUR 51.1 million), down from CAD 92.8 million (USD 66.6 million, EUR 57.6 million) in the same period of 2025.
If revenue from discontinued operations is considered, however, Clearwater's sales dropped from CAD 138.1 million (USD 99.1 million, EUR 85.7 million) in Q2 2025 to CAD 91.7 million (USD 65.8 million, EUR 56.9 million) in Q2 2026, largely due to the sale of Macduff Shellfish's land-based processing operations, along with the sale of its Argentine scallop business in June 2026. Premium said the drop is also due to a reduction in Canadian scallop catch rates, which are below the five-year average.
Overall, Clearwater posted a net loss of CAD 60.6 million (USD 43.5 million, EUR 37.6 million) in the quarter, which was partially impacted by a CAD 30 million (USD 21.5 million, EUR 18.6 million) fee "with respect to certain lobster related assets and sales."
