Cermaq returns to first quarter profit

Salmon farming giant Cermaq has posted a profit of US $5.5m (£4.3m) for the three months ended 30 June, which is the first quarter of its financial year.

The figure compares with a loss of US $20.8m (£16.3m) for the same period in 2023.

The return to profit is partly due to much higher salmon prices during April and May, the first two months of the quarter. But it also reported to be down to the acquisition of a so far unnamed affiliate.

Prices soared to more than NOK 130 per kilo (£9.44) around the Easter period but had since fallen back to around NOK 80 per kilo (£5.81).

The company also has major investment in British Columbia, Canada where open pen farming is scheduled to be phased out over the next five years. Salmon farming companies in the province will have to decide whether they want to continue operating in the province or engage in major an expensive reinvestment. Its other areas of operation are in Norway and Chile.

Cermaq also announced earlier this year that it is investing US $100m (£79m) in a new RAS (recirculating aquaculture system) farm in Chile. It said the new farm will use fully-automated processes to produce more robust smolts that can maximise performance in the seawater phase. The facility is expected to become operational in 2026.

Although it has its administrative headquarters in Norway, Cermaq has been owned by the Japanese industrial giant Mitsubishi for the past decade.