Arctic Fish returns to profit for Q1

Icelandic salmon company Arctic Fish turned a loss into profit during the first three months of this year.

Arctic Fish is now owned by the Norwegian giant Mowi. Previously, Norway Royal Salmon – which was part of the NTS Group, acquired last year by SalMar, held a controlling interest.

Publishing results for the January to March period, Arctic Fish announced an operational profit or EBIT of NOK 113.5m (£8.4m) against a loss of NOK 45m (£3.3m) during the same period in 2022.

Revenues were up rose significantly, rising from NOK 282.5m (£20m) 12 months ago to NOK 417.6m (£30m) this period, on a harvest of 4,866 tonnes.

The company said an operational EBIT margin of NOK 23.3 (£1.72) per kg harvested was achieved in the quarter, which is higher than the NOK 20.4 (£1.5) per kg margin achieved for the same period last year.

The price achievement averaged NOK 85.6 (£6.34) per kg, but that figure has to be set against production costs of NOK 61.1 (£4.50) per kg which is up from NOK 46.5 (£3.44) just 12 months ago. This sharp increase, says the report, was due to higher raw material costs, general inflation and the cost of hiring an external vessel for harvesting.

Capital expenditure (CAPEX) during the period amounted to NOK 159.5m (almost £12m).

The expected harvest by volume this year is 15,200 tonnes rising to 17,600 tonnes in 2024.

The company was also hit by a major fire at a smolt facility under construction in February, but it said that smolt stocking this year will proceed as planned, and in 2024 stocking would depend on when construction was completed.