Higher Q3 harvest and profit for Mowi Scotland

Mowi today unveiled a 2023 third quarter record high harvest and an EBIT or operational profit of €203m (£177m) with Scotland showing a marked improvement on two fronts. In contrast, profits for the group as a whole were down on Q3 last year.

Seafood analysts in Norway said the Mowi results were weaker than expected, adding that higher costs are now eating into company profits. Last year’s Q3 EBIT was €229m (£199m).

The company’s global harvest was 135,000 tonnes against 134,000 tonnes in Q3 last year.

The Farming Scotland harvest rose by 500 tonnes to 15,000 tonnes while the operational EBIT per kilo more than doubled from €0.30 to €0.65 (£0.56).

Farming Ireland also showed an improvement on the financial front. The quarterly harvest remains at 2,000 tonnes, but the division turned a loss of €1.60 per kilo last year into a profit of €0.80 per kilo (£0.69) this time.

Norway remains Mowi’s main revenue driver by a long way, although production was slightly lower this time.

The Farming Norway harvest was 86,000 tonnes against 87,500 tonnes 12 months ago while the operational EBIT was also lower at NOK 2.15 per kilo, against NOK 2.55 in Q3 last year.

Other divisional results (Q3 2022 figures in brackets) were:

• Farming Chile 17,500 tonnes (17,000 tonnes). Operational EBIT per kilo NOK €0.50 (€1.25).
• Farming Canada 7,500 tonnes (11,000 tonnes). Operational EBIT per kilo €0.60 (loss of €0.35 although Canada West produced a profit of €0.80 last year). Mowi said earnings in Canada were negatively impacted by algae-induced mortality during the period.
• Farming Faroes 2,500 tonnes (2,000 tonnes). Operational EBIT per kilo €1.90 (€1.05)
• Farming Iceland (Arctic Fish) 4,500 tonnes. Operational EBIT per kilo €0.15 (the business was not part of Mowi in Q3 2022).

The full Q3 report will be published on 8 November.