Norwegian aquaculture services and equipment provider AKVA Group received orders totaling NOK 647 million (USD 70.3 million, EUR 59.3 million) in the third quarter of this year, down from NOK 778 million (USD 84.5 million, EUR 71.4 million) in Q3 2019, with the increased orders placed with its land-based technology (LBT) segment insufficient to offset the decline seen by its cage-based technology (CBT) business.
According to AKVA’s report for the three months, the group had an order backlog of NOK 1.63 billion (USD 177.2 million, EUR 149.5 million) at the end of September, with new contracts signed for full grow-out facilities in the quarter. It also stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had a “limited impact” on the group in the period.
“In the first half of 2020, the pandemic impacted our land-based segment the most, with cancellation and postponement of contracts. With regards to the cage-based segment, the impact was mixed, as our portfolio of offerings are more diversified in regards of customer needs,” it said.
AKVA’s quarter ended with revenues of NOK 806 million (USD 87.6 million, EUR 73.9 million), up from NOK 771 million (USD 83.8 million, EUR 70.7 million) in Q3 2019. In terms of species, salmon farming accounted for the majority of the revenues generated.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) decreased by NOK 10 million (USD 1.1 million, EUR 916,864) to NOK 105 million (USD 11.4 million, EUR 9.6 million) in Q3 2020, while net profit slipped NOK 6 million (USD 651,985, EUR 549,844) to NOK 36 million (USD 3.9 million, EUR 3.3 million).
CBT revenues for the last quarter ended at NOK 694 million (USD 75.4 million, EUR 63.6 million), up from NOK 651 million (USD 70.7 million, EUR 59.7 million) a year previously. The segment’s EBITDA was NOK 100 million (USD 10.9 million, EUR 9.2 million), compared with NOK 98 million (USD 10.6 million, EUR 8.9 million).
Its revenue in the Nordic region reached NOK 444 million (USD 48.2 million, EUR 40.7 million), a year-on-year increase of NOK 8 million (USD 868,940, EUR 733,019), with a Q3 order intake of NOK 434 million (USD 47.1 million, EUR 39.8 million). The Americas region, meanwhile, achieved revenues NOK 187 million (USD 20.3 million, EUR 17.1 million), an increase from NOK 142 million (USD 15.4 million, EUR 13 million) in the third-quarter last year. Europe and Middle East (EME) saw revenues decrease by NOK 11 million (USD 1.2 million, EUR 1 million) to NOK 63 million (USD 6.8 million, EUR 5.8 million).
LBT’s revenues for the third-quarter totaled NOK 96 million, an increase of NOK 4 million (USD 434,746, EUR 366,890). EBITDA for the period was NOK 200,000 (USD 21,737, EUR 18,347), compared to NOK 9 million (USD 978,335, EUR 825,623) in Q3 2019, with the report stating that the COVID-19 outbreak is still a challenge for the business, but that activity had picked up from second-quarter of this year. Its order intake was NOK 72 million (USD 7.8 million, EUR 6.6 million), up from NOK 50 million (USD 5.4 million, EUR 4.6 million) in Q3 2019.
Lastly, revenues for AKVA’s software (SW) segment amounted to NOK 16 million (USD 1.7 million, EUR 1.5 million), some NOK 12 million (USD 1.3 million, EUR 1.1 million) less than in Q3 2019. Its EBITDA and EBIT ended at NOK 5 million (USD 543,648, EUR 458,664) and NOK 2 million (USD 217,471, EUR 183,454), down from NOK 8 million (USD 869,884, EUR 733,817) and NOK 4 million (USD 434,942, EUR 366,908) respectively.
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