Moscow, Russia-based Russian Aquaculture has posted significant increases in net profit and a strong financial performance in the first half of 2021.
The company posted a sales volume increase of 35 percent year-on-year, from 9,600 metric tons (MT) in 1H 2020 to 13,000 MT in H1 2021, the company announced. That increase was buoyed by a strong performance in the Q2, with a 47 percent increase from 3,500 MT to 5,200 MT.
The increased sales volumes helped the company boost its financial performance, increasing both its revenue and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). The company saw revenues in H1 2021 of RUB 6.7 billion (USD 91.3 million, EUR 77.3 million) an increase of 28 percent from the RUB 5.2 billion (USD 70.9 million, EUR 59.9 million) it earned in 2020.
Its adjusted EBITDA, meanwhile, increased 6 percent from RUB 2.29 billion (USD 31.2 million, EUR 26.4 million) to RUB 2.42 billion (USD 33 million, EUR 27.9 million).
The strong sales volumes, revenues, and EBITDA performance all combined to see the company post a net profit of RUB 1.96 billion (USD 26.7 million, EUR 22.6 million) in the first half of 2021. That contrasts with the RUB 400 million (USD 5.4 million, EUR 4.6 million) loss it recorded in 2020.
“We grew production volumes considerably in H1 2021, which had a positive impact on revenue and EBITDA. In addition, thanks to the excellent rate of weight gain of our fish, we delivered net profit of nearly RUB 2 billion [USD 27.2 million, EUR 23 million],” Russian Aquaculture CEO Ilya Sosnov said in a press release.
The positive performance stemmed from a significant turn-around in Q2 2021 compared to Q2 2020. The company posted net profit of RUB 2 billion (USD 27.2 million, EUR 23 million), compared to a loss of RUB 67 million (USD 913,000, EUR 773,000).
Sosnov attributed the positive performance to the growth of the market for the company’s products.
“Our results in the first half of the year were also supported by growth of the market. The Russian salmon market grew by 50 percent in the first half of 2021 in volume terms compared with the first half of 2020, and by 47 percent compared with the first half of 2019,” Sosnov said. “This growth further reinforces our conviction in the fundamental long-term outlook for the Russian fish market and prospects for increasing sales volumes of our fresh, high-quality products.”
The company also said it had integrated a Murmansk-based processing plant it acquired in May into its operations, and that it is planning additional investments in line with its growth strategy.
“We continue to invest in implementing our growth strategy, allocating RUB 2.2 billion [USD 30 million, EUR 25.3 million] during the period to buy processing capacities and equipment for our farms,” Sosnov said. “We have successfully integrated our primary processing plant into all of our business processes, bringing us much closer to our goal of building the largest vertically-integrated player in the aquaculture segment.”
As a result of the positive performance, the company paid out significant dividends.
“Our strong results, combined with a high degree financial stability, enabled the board of directors to recommend paying out dividends totaling RUB 352 million [USD 4.8 million, EUR 4 million] based on the results of the first half of the year,” Sosnov said. “Together with dividends for Q1 2021 and FY 2020, we will pay out a total of RUB 1.1 billion [USD 15 million, EUR 12.6 million] in dividends, or RUB 13.00 [USD 0.17, EUR 0.14] per share, this year.”
Photo courtesy of Russian Aquaculture
