ISA hits Norway Royal Salmon Q4
AN outbreak of infectious salmon anaemia in November has proved costly for Norway Royal Salmon, denting its final quarter results for 2017.
Figures today show that Q4 operational EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) or gross profit was 95million kroners compared with NOK 101 million a year ago.
The earnings per kilogramme were NOK 15.51 compared with NOK 26.83 in the final quarter of 2016.
The extra costs involved in dealing with the ISA outbreak totalled NOK 55 million, but it is thought to have led to a loss of at least NOK 80 million and possibly as high as NOK 100 million.
Presenting the results, CEO Charles Høstlund said: earnings ‘could have been significantly better had it not been for outbreak of the ISA salmon disease’.
‘In the quarter, the fish disease ISA was detected at three NRS sites in an operational area in Region North (of Norway),’ he said.
‘The extraction of fish from these sites started immediately after the detection, and this has had a significant impact on the result for the quarter.’
Taking 2017 as a whole, the results were better. Norway Royal Salmon\’s total operating income was almost NOK 5 billion compared with NOK 4,224 million in 2016 and the company achieved an operational EBIT of NOK 628 million (NOK 641 million in 2016).
The board is proposing a dividend of NOK 5.20 per share for 2017.
Norway Royal Salmon (NRS) group owns 35 fish farming licences and is a minority shareholder in three associated Norwegian fish farming companies, which together own ten licences, as well as Arctic Fish in Iceland.
Høstlund added: ‘NRS has a strong focus on growth and utilisation of our production capacity, and the biomass in the sea is 26 per cent higher compared to the end of the same quarter last year.’
