Lerøy reports big rise in earnings and profits
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Lerøy Seafood, the combined fish farming, processing and conventional trawling group, today reported appreciably higher third quarter earnings and operating profits.
Revenue rose from NOK 4,773bn (£415m) last year to NOK 6,325bn (£550m).
Operating profit before fair value adjustment related to biological assets was NOK 579m (£50m) compared with NOK 370m £32m in Q3 2020.
Lerøy CEO Henning Beltestad *(pictured) said demand for seafood was very strong and this provided fertile ground for optimism in the future.
He added: “The positive development from Q3 2020 is attributed to improved earnings from the land-based industry in the Wild Catch segment, substantial growth in harvest volume for the Farming segment, the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions resulting in a positive development in prices and, finally, the continued positive development for the VAPS&D segment.”
Operating profit for the farming segment before fair value adjustment related to biological assets was NOK 427m (£37m) compared with NOK 308m (£26.7m) in Q3 2020.
Lerøy is also co-owner of Scottish Sea Farms along with SalMar and Q3 revenues from this business rise from NOK 543m (£47m) in 2020 to NOK 773m (£67m) this year. However, the EBIT or operating profit fell from NOK 101m (£8.7m) in Q3 2020 to NOK 80m (almost £7m) this year.
The report biological problems, particularly in relation to gill health, had a negative impact on results including the early harvests of some sites. The Scottish Sea Farms harvest rose from 8,133 tonnes to 10,126 tonnes.
Lerøy Havfisk owns a fleet of ten trawlers catching cod, haddock and saithe and saw volumes rise from 11,083 tonnes last year to 12,336 tonnes this quarter. This included a higher volume of cod.
The key points were:-
- Strong demand for seafood and particulary salmon
- Operating profit before fair value adjustment related to biological assets NOK 579m
- Salmon and trout harvest volume in Q3 2021 was 56,400 GWT (44,200 GWT)
- Positive development in wild catches, driven by increased demand and improvements for land-based industry
- Positive development in VAP, Sales & Distribution segment • EBIT/kg “all inclusive” excluding wild catches (whitefish) of NOK 9.6/kg (NOK 9.2/kg)
- Estimated harvest volume for salmon and trout, including volume from associates, of approx. 204,000 GWT in 2021
- Estimated harvest volume for salmon and trout, including volume from associates in 2022 of 207,000 GWT