AquaChile, Chile’s largest salmon farmer and the second-largest salmon-farming company in the world, saw a drop in net profits due to a significant hit from fair-value adjustments, primarily due to the sale of its former holding, Rainforest Tilapia.
The company posted Q1 2022 net profits of USD 6.12 million (EUR 5.78 million), a 57.3 percent drop from the USD 14.3 million (EUR 13.5 million) its recorded in the first quarter of 2021.
The Q1 earnings presentation of animal protein farmer Agrosuper – AquaChile’s parent company – indicates the salmon company boosted its top-line revenue 24.1 percent to USD 402.5 million (EUR 380.3 million) in the first quarter of 2022 – divided between USD 381 million (EUR 360 million) in exports and USD 21.5 million (EUR 20.3 million) in domestic sales. That total compares to the USD 324.4 million (EUR 306.4 million) in revenue in the same quarter from one year ago.
AquaChile's cost of sales declined 7.4 percent year-over-year to USD 271.8 million (EUR 256.7 million) in Q1 2022. And AquaChile took a USD 57.7 million (EUR 54.5 million) hit from fair-value adjustments in the quarter, compared to a positive fair-value adjustment of USD 55.4 million (EUR 52.3 million) in Q1 2021, leading to a 15.9 percent drop in its Q1 2022 gross margin to USD 73 million (EUR 69 million).
During the first quarter, AquaChile brought in 38.3 percent of Agrosuper’s consolidated revenue of USD 1.05 billion (EUR 982 million).
Despite the lower earnings from AquaChile, Agrosuper was upbeat about its future projections.
“The aquaculture segment has shown low growth in production worldwide and a recovery in demand in relevant markets such as the United States, Brazil, and Japan, which has generated an increase in prices, which are expected to remain high at least during the second quarter of this year,” Agrosuper said in its report. “The foregoing, added to the advances in realizing synergies derived from the integration with the salmon-producing companies acquired in 2018 and 2019, generate a positive effect on the margins of the aquaculture business, which is projected to continue in this line during 2022.”
In its report, Agrosuper highlighted AquaChile’s traceability, quality, and biosafety standards “superior to those of the industry." The company holds ISO 9001 and HACCP product quality, ISO 14001 environmental management, OHSAS 18001 occupational safety standard, International Food Standard, Kosher, and British Retail Consortium certifications, in addition to GlobalG.A.P. and Best Aquaculture Practices aquaculture standard certications.
“All these certifications allow us to reach the most-demanding markets in the world, as is the case of the North American and Asian markets,” it said.
Photo courtesy of AquaChile
