Iceland Seafood International (ISI) achieved increased sales and profits for the 12 months ending 31 December 2018.
Solid contributions to that increase came from its new businesses Oceanpath and Solo Seafood, which were acquired in March and September last year.
The company’s 2018 sales totaled EUR 346 million (USD 394.5 million), which represented a 39 percent increase on the previous year. Of this, Oceanpath and Solo Seafood accounted for EUR 63 million (USD 71.8 million). Oceanpath is a fresh fish supplier to retailers in Ireland, while Solo holds 100 percent of the share capital of Spanish seafood company Icelandic Ibérica S.A.
ISI’s Consolidated Income Statement for the year 2018 shows normalized profit before tax (PBT) of EUR 7.2 million (USD 8.2 million), compared to EUR 3.5 million (USD 4 million) in 2017. On a proforma basis, including the full-year impact of the acquisitions, the normalized PBT was EUR 10.8 million (USD 12.3 million). The company said this highlighted the “transformational change of the group during the year.”
Its profit for the year, EUR 4.7 million (USD 5.4 million), increased by EUR 2.1 (USD 2.4 million) from 2017.
Bjarni Ármannsson, who was appointed CEO in January, said that the two new businesses performed very strongly in 2018 and that ISI sees “great opportunities” within these businesses going forward.
Some “important steps to enhance profitability in these areas” had already been taken, he said.
“At the same time, we have started benefitting from a stronger, integrated group, with four large fishing and production companies now being significant shareholders of Iceland Seafood,” Ármannsson said. “We are excited to further cement the relationship we have with our suppliers and partners in the market for seafood products. We are also confident that we are well positioned to take advantage of future opportunities in our key markets in the coming years.”
Ármannsson added that the outlook for 2019 is good and the group is in a strong position to leverage its platform and take advantage of opportunities in key markets. The forecasted normalized PBT for the year 2019 is in the range between EUR 11 million (USD 12.5 million) and EUR 11.8 million (USD 13.5 million).
ISI is also working towards listing the company’s shares on Iceland’s Nasdaq Main Market. The aim is to finalize this process in the fourth-quarter of this year.
