BioMar Group posted increased revenue and earnings last year, with the Brande, Denmark-headquartered aquaculture feed supplier citing significant growth in the salmon market compared to 2019. In all, its volumes sold to the sector were up 7 percent year-on-year.
According to BioMar’s 2020 financial report, its new product offerings, an agile adaption to the changing market situation, and a new production facility in Australia laid the foundation for a strong development of the salmon business. However, pressure on margins and exchange rates limited the impact on its bottom-line, keeping its revenue and results in line with 2019, as did the extraordinary costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its revenue for the year totaled DKK 11.6 billion (USD 1.9 billion, EUR 1.6 billion), up 4 percent from DKK 11.2 billion (USD 1.8 billion, EUR 1.5 billion) in 2019. Earnings before interest, taxes, debt, and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to DKK 972 million (USD 155.7 million, EUR 130.7 million), which was DKK 6 million (USD 961,168, EUR 806,845) more than a year previously.
“We are leaving 2020 with a very strong position in the salmon feed markets,” BioMar CEO Carlos Diaz said. “The pandemic has demanded agile collaboration with our customers adapting feeding strategies and product solutions. We have been able to be close to the markets and took fast decisions across the globe despite travel restrictions and lockdowns.”
However, the group also acknowledged that it and its customers had been “impacted significantly” by a challenged foodservice sector, export restrictions, and damage caused by January’s Storm Gloria, which caused significant damage to its fish-farming capacity in parts of Spain.
Despite the circumstances, BioMar “realized an acceptable year” in its Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) divisions, as well as in its shrimp-feed producing countries, while keeping its people safe, and continuing to grow its business and product offering, Diaz said.
“Since last spring, we have opened factories in Australia and in China, where now we have two production units, and we have launched a new extruded feed production line in Ecuador,” he said. “In 2021, we have signed a deal to acquire a feed business unit in Vietnam, positioning us even stronger in the shrimp segment. Looking back at 2020, it has been both challenging and rewarding.”
Diaz warned shareholders guiding the group through the COVID crisis had not been inexpensive.
“We have saved money on traveling while taking significant costs to keep the employees safe and support our local communities, but to us, people always come first. We would not have been where we are today without employees around the world believing in our shared purpose and being willing to innovate and take risks to navigate through the crisis,” he said.
Owned by Danish industrial group Schouw & Co, BioMar operates 16 feed factories, located in Norway, Chile, Denmark, Scotland, Spain, France, Greece, Turkey, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Australia.
Photo courtesy of BioMar
