An average 5.7 percent drop in the sales price for Atlantic salmon, and an 11 percent fall in trout – coupled with a respective 6.1 percent and 19.6 percent rise in the cost of sales – affected Santiago, Chile-based salmon farming firm Australis Seafoods’ income in the first quarter of 2020.
According to information provided by Australis to Chile’s financial markets regulator CMF, total revenue for the quarter was USD 94.6 million (EUR 84.7 million), down 4 percent when compared to the same quarter of 2019. During the period, sales costs rose 14 percent to USD 87.6 million (EUR 78.4 million).
In turn, earnings before interest, taxes, debt, and amortization (EBITDA) for Q1 came in at USD 6.2 million (EUR 5.5 million), versus the USD 20.2 million (EUR 18.1 million) registered for Q1 of 2019. The company saw a net loss of USD 4.7 million (EUR 4.2 million) for the quarter, versus USD 21.4 million (EUR 19.1 million) in profits for the first three months of 2019.
The volume harvested during the quarter actually increased by 4.1 percent year-over-year to 22,243 metric tons, with 61.8 percent of the total harvest coming from the Magallanes region.
Australis said it had implemented a series of protocols and measures in all areas of the company in order to mitigate possible negative externalities stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak, but that sales were affected by a decrease in demand in the foodservice, restaurants and hotels segments.
“In productive terms, the main complications have been due to logistical problems, due to the decrease in flights, which in turn impacted the coordination of harvest and processes,” it noted.
The company added that the medium-term effects of the pandemic is still uncertain, and as such it has taken measures to protect the company's financial situation, such as reducing expenses and investments, along with obtaining new lines of financing to maintain liquidity.
In August last year, Australis announced it had received a USD 160 million (EUR 145 million) line of credit from the Bank of China’s Macau branch, to consolidate separate lines of credit the salmon farmer previously held with the Norwegian DNB Bank, Rabobank, and Banco Santander.
In June 2019, the firm was acquired for USD 922 million (EUR 837 million) by the Joyvio Group, a subsidiary of Legend Holding, one of the largest companies in China.
