A strong fourth-quarter performance helped AKVA Group ASA finish the year on a high note.
AKVA achieved fourth-quarter 2020 revenues of NOK 770 million (USD 90.6 million, EUR 76 million), an increase of 18 percent year-on-year, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of NOK 53 million (USD 6.2 million, EUR 5.2 million), reversing a loss of NOK 40 million (USD 4.7 million, EUR 4 million) in Q4 2019.
Net profit increased from a fourth-quarter loss of NOK 85 million (USD 10 million, EUR 8.4 million) in 2019 to a NOK 3 million (USD 353,165, EUR 296,007) gain, with the Norwegian aquaculture services and equipment provider highlighting increased activity and order intake, but that its cage-based business experienced a “challenging quarter.”
AKVA’s order intake in the quarter reached NOK 1 billion (USD 117.7 million, EUR 98.8 million) with a backlog of NOK 1.9 billion (USD 223.6 million, EUR 187.7 million) at the end of December 2020. In the quarter, the group was awarded a contract for a full grow-out recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) project from Nordic Aqua Ningbo, and two engineering and design contracts for full grow-out facilities.
Delivering the results, it confirmed that in the first-half of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted its Land Based Technology (LBT) segment the most with the cancellation and postponement of contracts. Its Cage Based Technology (CBT) segment, meanwhile, experienced a “mixed” impact due to the diverse geography and customer needs in the division’s portfolio of offerings.
Revenues generated by CBT ended the last quarter at NOK 593 million (USD 69.8 million, EUR 58.6 million), up from NOK 529 million (USD 62.3 million, EUR 52.2 million) in Q4 2019. Its EBITDA increased by NOK 6 million (USD 706,760, EUR 592,940) to NOK 37 million (USD 4.4 million, EUR 3.7 million).
Land Based Technology’s revenues for the last quarter totaled NOK 157 million (USD 18.5 million, EUR 15.5 million), up from NOK 110 million (USD 13 million, EUR 10.9 million) in Q4 2019, with both its EBITDA and its EBIT rising to NOK 8 million (USD 942,049, EUR 790,587) and NOK 9 million (USD 1.1 million, EUR 889,411) respectively.
Also in the three-month period, the Digital Solutions division’s revenues increased by NOK 4 million (USD 470,986, EUR 395,172) year-on-year to NOK 20 million (USD 2.4 million, EUR 2 million), while EBITDA and EBIT climbed to NOK 7 million (USD 824,189, EUR 681,385) and NOK 5 million (USD 588,603, EUR 493,386).
AKVA said that in the short term, it expects some headwind both in relation to the ongoing COVID restrictions and costs related to a cyber-attack, but that its long-term fundamentals remain unchanged.
Photo courtesy of AKVA Group ASA
