Marine Harvest earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) dropped more than 80 percent in 4Q 2012 compared to 2011.
The company’s 4Q report also noted that a voluntary recall of its products due to fears of listeria contamination cost NOK 25 million (USD 4.5 million, EUR 3.4 million) in the quarter. Other losses in the company’s Chile and Canada operations were blamed on “the continued very weak market conditions in the Americas.”
Operational EBIT for Marine Harvest was approximately NOK 60 million (USD 10.7 million, EUR 8.1 million) in 4Q 2012, compared to NOK 403 million (USD 72.1 million, EUR 54.3 million) reported in 4Q 2011.
December also marked the beginning of Marine Harvest’s acquisition process of Morpol. While the report did not go into detail on the financial impact of the acquisition, it did indicate that the acquisition may not be complete until the end of 2013.
The report also showed that results in Norway were “positively impacted by the strongly-improved market conditions from the end of the fourth quarter, which has continued into 2013.”
In connection with the presentation of the Q3 2012 results, Marine Harvest guided a total harvest volume of 101 thousand metric tons for 4Q 2012.
