Norway Royal Salmon (NRS) has reported operational earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of NOK 136 million (USD 14.7 million, EUR 13.5 million) for the fourth quarter of last year and an EBIT per kilogram of NOK 16.71 (USD 1.81, EUR 1.65). The corresponding figures for the same quarter of 2018 were a record operational EBIT of NOK 232 million (USD 25.1 million, EUR 23 million), and an EBIT of NOK 17.73 (USD 1.92, EUR 1.75) per kilogram.
For the full financial year 2019, Trondheim-headquartered NRS achieved operating revenues of NOK 5.6 billion (USD 605.2 million, EUR 554.2 million), up from NOK 5 billion (USD 540.4 million, EUR 494.9 million) in 2018. At the same time, its operational EBIT fell from NOK 642 million (USD 69.4 million, EUR 63.6 million) to NOK 543 million (USD 58.7 million, EUR 53.7 million). Its profit after tax for 2019 was NOK 1.3 billion (USD 140.5 million, EUR 128.7 million).
In a company statement, CEO Charles Høstlund said that the sale of its Region South segment was completed on 16 December, 2019, and increased the result after tax by NOK 922 million (USD 99.7 million, EUR 91.3 million) in the last quarter.
Høstlund also highlighted that increased production costs reduced the margin in the quarter, while the price of salmon increased during the same period.
“NRS shall grow through sustainable growth, the group [had] at the end of the quarter 20 percent higher biomass in Region North compared with the corresponding quarter last year,” he said.
NRS’s Region North posted an operational EBIT of NOK 146 million (USD 15.8 million, EUR 14.5 million) in the final quarter of 2019, compared with NOK 243.3 million (USD 26.3 million, EUR 24.1 million) in Q4 2018. Its operational EBIT per kilogram gutted weight was NOK 17.71 (USD 1.91, EUR 1.75), down from NOK 20.20 (USD 2.18, EUR 2).
Meanwhile, before the sale of the segment, Region South posted an operational EBIT of NOK 5.6 million (USD 605,247, EUR 554,345) in the quarter, compared with NOK 1 million (USD 108,080, EUR 98,990) in Q4 2018. Operational EBIT per kilogram gutted weight was NOK 6.77 (USD 0.73, EUR 0.67), up from NOK 0.60 (USD 0.06, EUR 0.05).
In terms of volume, NRS harvested 9,070 metric tons (MT) of gutted weight salmon in the last quarter, which was 34 percent lower than in Q4 2018. Of this total, some 8,243 MT came from Region North and 826 MT from Region South.
The group’s estimated harvest volume for 2020 is 37,000 MT, which would represent an increase of 36 percent compared with Region North’s volume in 2019.
NRS also said that its sales business “had a good result in the quarter” selling 24,726 MT of salmon in Q4 2019, which was 11 percent lower than a year previously.
In the fourth quarter, the group was granted NOK 400 million (USD 43.2 million, EUR 39.6 million) in green funding. It also scaled up its Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification to cover 75 percent of NRS sites.
“It is gratifying to see that the commitment to sustainable production results in more favorable loan terms and is appreciated by the bank,” Høstlund said.
As well as owning salmon farming sites in West Finnmark, Troms and Haugsund, NRS has minority interests in three associated fish farming companies that own 10 fish-farming licenses, in addition to Arctic Fish in Iceland.
Photo courtesy of Norway Royal Salmon
