Samherji set to focus on expansion

Samherji, Iceland’s largest integrated fishing and seafood company, is planning to invest 60 billion kroner (£365m) on expanding its aquaculture business over the next few years.

Announcing its financial results for last year, Samherji CEO Þorstein Más Baldvinsson, said the emphasis would be on land based salmon farming.

The group announced profits after tax of ISK 5.5 bn (£33m) , an increase of ISK 1bn on 2020. Total sales for the year were ISK 56.7bn (£346m)

He maintained: “We at Samherji have a lot of faith in land farms, but their construction is hugely expensive.

“That is why it is of the utmost importance that the company is as financially strong as ever. Our consolidated financial statements shows that this is the case.”

For this reason the company’s general meeting decided not to pay a dividend this time, with investment directed into new projects such as expanding salmon farming.

Two months ago Samherji completed a US $26m share capital increase to help fund its aquaculture expansion plans.

Samherji has also appointed former Mowi CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog to its board of directors. The company described him as one of the most experienced experts in the field of aquaculture.

Currently the company is expanding in the north east of Iceland with a pilot project for a land based farm at Öxarfjörður, and there is a far plan for an even larger, land-based farm in the south west of the country near the capital, Reykjavik.