Higher prices for its sea bass and sea bream operations has led to a 6.6 percent sales increase for the first nine months of the year reaching EUR 151.1 million for Nireus Group. More than 79 percent of sales were from actual fish sales, the highest in three years.
The Greek fish feed and farmed fish producer saw sea bass and sea bream values take a serious hit in 2009, but the first nine months of this year saw pricing improve by 17 percent, compared to the same period in 2010.
Export markets grew to account for 76 percent of total sales, amounting to EUR 114.1 million. The growth was largely attributed to new markets outside the EU, which accounted for 14 percent of total sales.
Net income and EBIT also increased to EUR 6.4 million and EUR 22.66 million, respectively.
Sales of feed, however, decreased to EUR 11.4 million, down 12.3 percent on the same period in 2010. Sales of juveniles remained relatively stable, dropping slightly to EUR 11.3 million.
“In the first nine months of 2011, we saw a strong increase in our results, with improved pricing, organic growth in sales, particularly from new markets, tighter cost controls and a satisfactory level of demand for our products,” said Aristides Belles, chairman and managing director of Nireus Group. “The global demand for the products of Mediterranean fish farming has experienced uninterrupted growth for over 20 years, regardless of economic fluctuations. Furthermore, the expected stability of the positive trends in the price of seabream and seabass generate a positive outlook for our future financial performance.”
