The Kingfish Company, which operates a recirculating aquaculture system yellowtail kingfish farm in Kats, the Netherlands, and which is planning to construct a second farm in the U.S. state of Maine, reported higher production in sales in 2021, but a loss of EUR 6.3 million (USD 6.9 million).
The company produced 1,154 metric tons (MT) and sold 902 MT of kingfish from its Kats RAS facility in 2021 and had revenue of EUR 10.4 million (USD 11.3 million) in 2021. It followed this performance with 340 MT of production and EUR 3.7 million (USD 4 million) in sales in Q1 2022, and received a higher average sale price of EUR 11.50 (USD 12.52) per whole-fish equivalent per kilogram in the quarter, up from EUR 11.20 (USD 12.19) in the previous quarter.
“We have come off to a good start of 2022, seeing demand for our fish continuing to outstrip capacity, productivity continuously improving, and with a five-year ESG linked financing arrangement in place, we have secured funding to reach 3,500 tonnes of capacity in the Netherlands,” Kingfish Company CEO Ohad Maiman said in a press release.
On 19 April, The Kingfish Company announced it had secured a EUR 75 million (USD 81 million) loan from P Capital Partners AB to help it continue to build its land-based yellowtail kingfish farm in Kats, the Netherlands.
The company reported its plan to build a yellowtail kingfish farm in Jonesport, Maine, U.S.A. is ready to proceed once it has secured financing for the project. In a March interview with SeafoodSource, Maiman described a difficult fundraising environment currently facing RAS development projects.
In its 2021 results, The Kingfish Company reported losses before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) on its farm of EUR 1.6 million (USD 1.7 million), with that figure rising to EUR 6 million (USD 6.5 million) if development and headquarter costs are included.
Nevertheless, Maiman said he was satisfied with the company’s full-year results in 2021, as it managed to double its sales and output, and deliver a gross margin of EUR 2.20 (USD 2.39) per kilogram by receiving higher prices while reducing production costs.
Maiman told SeafoodSource The Kingfish Company’s Dutch RAS is outperforming its initial design specifications as the company has learned how to operate the system with greater efficiency.
“2021 has been another record year for The Kingfish Company driven by strong market demand for our high-value kingfish in Europe and the United States. We appreciate the strong execution by our dedicated team, and we are excited when we look at the years to come. We are now fully funded to reach group-level cashflow positive,” Maiman said.
Maiman said the company remained committed to its ESG goals, which include reducing its fish-in, fish-out ratio, its residual waste, and its carbon emissions per ton of growth by 25 percent, and increasing its recycling efforts by 25 percent.
“We support and develop environmental projects and partnerships in our communities and will continue to pursue environmental excellence and innovation in our corporate strategy and operations,” Maiman said. “We continue to manage our energy usage and saw a reduced energy use per ton of fish produced year-on-year. We will continue to work towards carbon emission reduction in everything we do.”
Photo courtesy of The Kingfish Company
