Lakeland salmon results prop up Marine Farms’ Q2 performance – Fishupdate.com

Lakeland salmon results prop up Marine Farms’ Q2 performance Published:  18 August, 2009

The Bergen based salmon, seabass/bream and cobia farming company, Marine Farms ASA, has reported improved financial results for Q2 2009 based on the strong performance of their UK salmon operations.

Revenue increased by 18% in the 2nd quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008 and for the first six months of 2009 revenue increased almost 23% compared to the same period last year. Profit (EBIT) improved by NOK 23 million (£2.3 million) while for the first six months of 2009, EBIT improved by NOK 57 million (£5.6 million).

Improved results generated by the salmon operation in the UK were offset by increased losses generated by the cobia operations in Belize.

Marine Farming’s salmon operations in UK operated under the name Lakeland (UK), continued to do well with an EBIT/kg gwt sold salmon of NOK 12.1 (£1.20) in the 2nd quarter of 2009 (compared to NOK 7.9 in 2008). The volume of salmon sold increased by 18% in the 1st half of 2009 compared to the same period last year.

The company’s seabass/seabream operations in Spain (Culmarex) had a negative EBIT/kg of NOK -7.0 in 2nd quarter 2009, although this was an improvement over the 2008 figure (NOK -10.5). The volumes of seabass and seabream sold increased by 41% in 1st half of 2009 compared to same period last year.

Costs related to the two cobia operations in Vietnam and in Belize resulted in a negative EBIT of NOK -17 mill in the 2nd quarter of 2009. This included an extraordinary write down of biomass of NOK -5 mill related to bad quality juveniles supplied by third party.

EBIT before fair value in the 2nd quarter 2009 ended at NOK 10.1 mill compared to NOK 10.9 mill in 2008. The EBIT before fair value for the first 6 months of 2009 amounted to NOK 16.6 mill, compared to NOK 18.9 mill in 2008.