Schouw and Co., which owns the Aarhus, Denmark-based aquafeed company BioMar, has raised its guidance for BioMar’s 2019 financial outlook.
In its second quarter results, Schouw and Co. said BioMar’s revenue was in line with its 2018 figures, but that thesupplier of high-performance feed to the global aquaculture industry was well-positioned for the second half of 2019.
“BioMar won a number of attractive contracts, and that has made us raise the guidance for BioMar’s full-year revenue and earnings,” it said.
BioMar’s sales volume increased by 4 percent in the second quarter of 2019 as compared to Q2 2018, and the company is increasing its prediction for its 2019 revenues by DKK 500 million (USD 74.2 million, EUR 67 million). to DKK 10.8 billion (USD 1.6 billion, EUR 1.5 billion). It also elevated its predicted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization to a range of DKK 870 million (USD 129.2 million, EUR 116.7 million) to DKK 930 million (USD 138.1 million, EUR 124.7 million).
“We are confident that we are on the right track,” BioMar CEO Carlos Diaz said. “The report underlines the long-term solid performance of the company by increased volumes and revenue compared to 2018.”
Diaz said the company was having a “strong performance in the salmon markets in U.K. and Chile as well as within the business units producing feed for other species across the world.”
“Innovative product offerings and close cooperation with the customers designing advanced feed solutions targeted the consumer market has been some of the factors driving the results,” he said.
Diaz said that while a slower performance in 2018 is still affecting the company’s financial reporting, BioMar is now on a growth trajectory.
“We experience, that our initiatives have been well received and we feel that we are regaining our good foothold in the market. The new management team has brought very strong technical profiles to the forefront of our business, enabling next generation of product innovation together with the customers and a reinforced closeness to the market. I am confident, that we will continue to see improved results within a very short timeline,” Diaz said.
More aquaculture companies are now looking beyond the cheapest product when buying feed, Diaz said.
“Feed is moving away from being a commodity product towards being a significant driver of welfare in the farms as well as a part of the value proposition towards the end-consumers,” Diaz said. “Many of our customers are determined to ensure, that we together deliver healthy and sustainable seafood. The agenda of food is changing and our opportunities for taking responsibility expands along with rapid development within the end-consumer segments.”
