Markets Archive

Genetics and animal health specialist Benchmark Group saw its revenue and profits surging back in the third quarter of this year, with strong performance in all areas, especially the sale of salmon eggs. The group’s revenue for Q3 was £28.3m, up 17% on the same period last year. Revenue for the year to date is…

Norway Royal Salmon, currently the subject of two takeover bids from larger rivals, today posted a lower than expected second quarter operating profit of NOK 94m (£7.6m). The corresponding figure for Q2 last year was NOK 120m (almost £10m) and analysts had been expecting something close to that this time. The operating profit per kilo…

Fish farming giant SalMar has today stepped in with a dramatic late bid for Norway Royal Salmon. It has offered to buy all outstanding shares in NRS for NOK 270 a share, NOK 30, more than the increased NOK 240 a share offer from rivals NTS. SalMar says it is ready to buy all outstanding…

Cooke Aquaculture has signalled that it is interested in acquiring the Tasmanian salmon farmer Huon. The company president and CEO Glenn Cooke told the Tasmanian newspaper, The Mercury, that Tasmania was an attractive state in which to invest. He said to The Mercury: “Huon holds tremendous promise as an established company to continue producing world-renowned…

Land-based fish farmer Salmon Evolution is happy with the progress being made on its two major sites in Norway and South Korea, although the company continues to burn cash. Salmon Evolution is building a RAS (recirculating aquaculture system) at Indre Harøy, Norway and – via K Smart Farming, a joint venture with Korea’s Dongwon Industries…

Lerøy Seafood, the combined fish farming and white fish trawling company, today reported higher than expected second quarter sales of NOK 5.3bn (£431m), up nearly 13% from NOK 4.7bn (£383m) for the same period last year. Lerøy, along with SalMar is co-owner of Scottish Sea Farms (Norskott Havbruk) which saw its income jump from NOK…

Grieg Seafood delivered higher profits during the second quarter of this year with its outgoing Shetland operation performing particularly well. The company’s Chief Executive Andreas Kvame said, however, that he was “not satisfied” with the results. The company has agreed to sell its Shetland business to Scottish Sea Farms for £164m in a deal which…

The battle for the Tasmania-based salmon farmer Huon Aquaculture has taken on a new intensity. The Brazilian meat giant JBS launched a parallel bid at the weekend after the Australian mining magnate Dr Andrew Forrest more than doubled his holding in Huon. Dr Forrest has also called on Huon to continue with its move towards…

Covid-19 and other factors had a bigger than expected impact on the performance of aquaculture technology services group AKVA AS during the second quarter of this year, the company’s latest results show. Revenues dropped by 3% from NOK 862m (£70.5m) to NOK 832m (£68m) while EBITDA was down by NOK 14m to NOK 79m (£6.4m) and…

A £225m bid for Huon Aquaculture by Brazilian meat processor JBS appears to have hit a bump in the road following a late intervention by an Australian mining magnate. Billionaire Andrew Forrest has increased his stake in Huon with an implicit message on video calling on the company to make salmon farming more sustainable or…