Santiago, Chile-based salmon farmer Salmones Camanchaca has raised CLP 19.2 billion (USD 22.5 million, EUR 19.9 million) with the issuance of new shares, the company reported in a brief statement to the Oslo bourse.
The company received subscriptions for a total of 8,193,660 new shares, and following completion of the offering, the number of Camanchaca shares outstanding and issued reach 74,193,660 shares – without par value – it said.
In an October shareholders meeting, the company’s shareholders approved a capital increase of up to USD 30 million (EUR 25.8 million) to support Camanchaca’s 2022-2023 investment plan. Placement was expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
In November, the company rescheduled USD 135 million (EUR 120 million) in revolving credit lines with DNB Bank, Rabobank, and Santander, saying that it is the first salmon company in Chile to ink a sustainability-linked loan that meets the five characteristics outlined by the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA).
The company posted increased revenue, positive net profit, and a positive EBITDA in the third quarter of 2021. The results represent a turnaround from its 2020 performance, with a Q3 net profit of USD 4.57 million (EUR 4.03 million) versus a Q3 loss of USD 9.53 million (EUR 8.42 million) in the same quarter last year. The company pointed to this as evidence of moving away from weak results attributed to a fall in demand due to the pandemic and the impacts of algae blooms from a dry and sunny summer.
Salmones Camanchaca is a vertically- and fully-integrated salmon producer, with operations in farming, processing, marketing, and selling salmonids. It harvested 53,000 MT WFE from its core business of Atlantic salmon farming in 2020. The firm has ventured into coho salmon farming with plans to replace Atlantic salmon at its farming centers in the Los Lagos Region, as it harvests coho before Chile's summer – when the risk of blooms increases due to higher water temperatures.
It recently announced it expects to harvest between 8,000 and 9,000 MT of antibiotic-free salmon annually by 2024, as the company attempts to cater to more discerning markets.
