The Norway-headquartered salmon farmer Mowi, formerly known as Marine Harvest, achieved operational earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 213 million (USD 241.1 million) in the fourth quarter of last year, up 18 percent from the EUR 180.8 million (USD 204.6 million) posted for the corresponding period of 2017.
While Mowi’s EBIT for 2018 as a whole of EUR 752.8 million (USD 852 million) was lower than the previous year’s record EUR 792.1 million (USD 896.5 million), it was still the group’s second-best annual financial performance.
Mowi CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog said that 2018 had been “a very good year” for the group, with strong demand for salmon and “really good prices” in most markets resulting in “great earnings.”
“The fact is that the supply grew by close to five percent and prices in Europe grew by 12.5 percent – there are not many industries that can achieve that,” Aarskog said.
Mowi achieved an operational revenue of EUR 1.07 billion (USD 1.2 billion) in the last quarter, up 6 percent year-on-year, contributing to a record annual turnover in excess of EUR 3.8 billion (USD 4.3 billion), which was 4 percent higher than in 2017.
The total volume harvested by the group in the last quarter was 105,783 metric tons (MT) gutted weight equivalent (GWE), down from 112,628 MT in Q4 2017, but higher than the 99,634 MT in Q4 2016. For 2018 as a whole, it harvested 375,237 MT, which was up on 2017’s 370,346 MT.
Its harvest guidance for 2019 is 430,000 MT.
Thanks to good prices, the operational EBIT of Marine Harvest’s salmon of Norwegian origin in Q4 2018 was EUR 2.44 (USD 2.76) per kilogram, up from EUR 1.77 (USD 2) in Q4 2017. Operational EBIT increases were also seen in its salmon of Scottish, Canadian, and Chilean origin at EUR 2.32 (USD 2.63), EUR 1.42 (USD 1.61) and EUR 1.25 (USD 1.41) per kilogram, respectively.
Also in the quarter, with a sales volume of 110,000 MT, Mowi Feed reported an operational EBIT of EUR 5.8 million (USD 6.6 million), up from EUR -2.8 million (USD -3.2 million) a year previously. Mowi Consumer Products reported an operational EBIT of EUR 38 million (USD 43 million), rising from EUR 29.1 million (USD 32.9 million), with a record sales volume of 46,436 MT.
Meanwhile, the global cost savings program initiated a year ago to help the company cope with rising production costs and increased biological challenges achieved savings of EUR 61 million (USD 69 million) in 2018, compared to a target of EUR 50 million (USD 56.6 million).
A new EUR 30 million (USD 34 million) global cost and procurement improvement program has been implemented for 2019. Aarskog said that EUR 15 million (USD 17 million) savings are expected to be made in both cost improvement and also procurement enhancement.
