Land-based salmon-farming and aquatech firm AquaBounty Technologies posted another quarterly loss in Q3 2022, though its revenue increased 44 percent year-over-year.
The Maynard, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based firm posted a net loss of USD 5.4 million (EUR 5.3 million) in the quarter, down from USD 6.9 million (EUR 6.8 million) in Q3 2021. It recorded USD 653,000 (EUR 643,000) in revenue in the quarter and USD 2.7 million (EUR 2.6 million) between January and September 2022, up from USD 800,000 (EUR 787,000) through the same nine-month period of 2021.
“Throughout the third quarter, AquaBounty continued to see strong demand for our salmon from seafood distributor customers. We once again sold everything we could produce, which combined with improvements in our yields,” AquaBounty CEO Sylvia Wulf said. “Additionally, our production operations are seeing the benefit of the salmon biology expertise that comes from the scientists and technicians throughout our organization. Their understanding of the interaction between salmon biology and the RAS environment in which our fish grow has enabled us to begin to increase our production efficiency and reduce mortality risk at our Indiana farm, which is realized through increased harvest yields. These learnings are reflected in our harvest success to-date and have been critical to identifying process and design improvements for our future farm in Pioneer, Ohio.”
AquaBounty selected Pioneer, Ohio, U.S.A. as the site of its new recirculating aquaculture system farm in July 2021, and broke ground on the new facility in April 2022. The farm is part of the company’s ambitious plan to build a new farm every two years. AquaBounty received the water usage permit for its Pioneer facility in October 2022. However, Wulf said the cost of constructing the facility has risen to USD 320 million (EUR 315 million) and that in response, it had requested and received approval from the Board of the Toledo Lucas County Port Authority to increase the amount of bonds for the farm’s construction to USD 425 million (EUR 418.4 million).
“We are now moving forward with an updated timeline reflecting the larger bond offering, with the expectation of closing the bond financing in the first quarter of 2023,” she said.
Furthermore, Wulf said the farm may be able to support a production level beyond its estimated capacity of 10,000 metric tons of salmon annually.
Wulf said the company’s cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash totaled USD 128 million (EUR 126 million) as of September 2022.
“Looking ahead into 2023, we believe the need for land-based salmon that is farmed efficiently, sustainably, and profitably will continue to rise as consumers opt for cleaner proteins that take the pressure off fully fished or overfished fisheries,” Wulf said. “With ongoing market validation, the scale-up of harvests and sales at our Indiana farm, and construction at the Ohio farm all well underway, we are very optimistic for our shared future and progress in the months ahead.”
Photo courtesy of Aquabounty
