The Scottish Salmon Co. on Thursday reported a strong start to 2011, due to good biological performance and favorable market conditions.
The company’s net operating revenue exceeded expectations for the first quarter, totaling EUR 25.4 million, compared to EUR 24.1 million during the same period last year. Its harvest volumes, however, were down to 5,954 metric tons from 6,407 metric tons.
The company anticipates that it will exceed predicted harvest volumes for 2011, reaching between 3 and 5 percent above the 22,000-metric-ton target.
Scottish Salmon Co. is a principal player in the Scottish aquaculture industry, responsible for about 20 percent of all Scottish salmon production. It also recently opened the Marybank processing plant in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, to produce high quality, pre-rigor, pin-bone-out fillets. In operation since late last year, filleting is now running at more than 50 percent capacity.
“The market has remained strong in early 2011, our new generation of stock currently being harvested has performed exceptionally well, with customer feedback extremely positive on both yield and quality parameters,” said Bill Hazeldean, the company’s CEO. “We have secured new long term contracts and we are opening up export markets. This gives us a springboard for the rest of the year.
