Reduced market prices led Bergen, Norway-headquartered salmon farmer Mowi to report operational earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 49.4 million (USD 59.7 million) for the fourth quarter of last year, down 70 percent from the EUR 165.7 million (USD 200.1 million) posted for the corresponding period of 2019.
Its operational revenue of just over EUR 1 billion (USD 1.2 billion) in the last quarter was down from EUR 1.1 billion (USD 1.3 billion) previously, but its harvest volume for the period increased 9 percent year-on-year to a Q4 best of 126,634 metric tons (MT) gutted weight. This harvest contributed to the company’s largest ever full-year volume of 439,829 MT.
The full-year harvest guidance for 2021 is unchanged at 445,000 MT.
Record volumes were in fact achieved by all of Mowi’s divisions in 2020, with 239,427 MT of value-added products sold, and 540,326 MT of feed produced.
The operational EBIT for the full-year 2020 was EUR 337.7 million (USD 407.9 million), down from EUR 720.9 million (USD 870.7 million) in 2019, while operational revenues fell from EUR 4.1 billion (USD 5 billion) to EUR 3.8 billion (USD 4.6 billion).
“The pandemic still impacts out-of-home consumption to a large degree, and although retail sales are strong and offset some of the demand shortfall, overall demand was down by approximately 5 percent," Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim said. "However, we still strongly believe in the positive long-term market outlook for the industry. A significant share of new customers in retail are expected to permanently increase their retail consumption rates post COVID-19, even as the foodservice segment gradually reopens in due course.”
According to Mowi’s Q4 report, as a consequence of the second wave of COVID-19 and high seasonal supply, the average market reference price was EUR 4.05 (USD 4.89) per kilogram, which was 28 percent lower than in Q4 2019. Its production cost per kilogram was relatively stable compared with a year previously.
The operational EBIT of Mowi’s salmon of Norwegian origin in the last quarter of 2020 was EUR 0.75 (USD 0.91) per kilogram, down from EUR 1.42 (USD 1.72) in Q4 2019. Operational EBIT decreases were also seen in its salmon of Canadian, Chilean, Irish, and Faroese origin at a loss of EUR 1.13 (USD 1.36), EUR 0.49 (USD 0.59), and EUR 0.77 (USD 0.93) per kilogram, respectively. Only its Irish salmon turned a gain, at EUR 2.62 (USD 3.16), though its operational EBIT still decreased compared to a year prior. Mowi's fish of Scottish origin achieved a higher operational EBIT of EUR 1.57 (USD 1.90).
Also in the quarter, Mowi Feed reported an operational EBIT of EUR 13.7 million (USD 16.5 million), representing a decrease of EUR 100,000 (USD 120,792) from a year previously, with 153,466 MT sold.
Mowi Consumer Products reported an operational EBIT of EUR 34.8 million (USD 42 million), up from EUR 17.3 million (USD 20.9 million), with 70,045 MT of products being sold.
Photo courtesy of Mowi
