Icelandic Salmon Q1 2024: Volume guiding for 2024 unchanged despite challenging first quarter
May 14 2024 - 12:30AM
Icelandic Salmon Q1 2024: Volume guiding for 2024 unchanged despite
challenging first quarter
Bíldudalur, 14th of May 2024
Icelandic Salmon is the parent company of Arnarlax, and other
subsidiaries involved in salmon farming and processing in Iceland.
The companies are collectively referred to as "Icelandic Salmon" or
the "Group".
Operations
In the first quarter 2024, Icelandic Salmon harvested 2,769
tonnes compared to 6,572 tonnes in the same quarter last year. The
lower volume follows months of extraordinary harvesting at the end
of last year, when biological challenges prompted the company to
harvest early for animal welfare reasons.
There was biological challenges in the first quarter this year.
Mortality rate in the 2023 generation in the sea and at one of the
smolt facilities was unusually high, resulting in one-off costs of
EUR 3.6 million in the period.
“During this winter, our team has had to face a series of quite
unusual operational challenges. We have been reminded that in our
industry, we must be able to adapt and quickly adjust our plans. In
order to do so, we need robust companies with highly skilled and
resourceful people, which we are fortunate to have,” said Bjørn
Hembre, CEO of Icelandic Salmon.
The group reported revenues of EUR 27.5 million in the first
quarter 2024, compared to 68.9 million in the first quarter 2023.
The EBIT for the quarter was negative EUR 0.5 million, which
includes the one-off cost mentioned above. Operational EBIT/kg was
negative EUR 0.20. Adjusted for one-offs EBIT/kg was EUR 1.1.
Market and strategic milestones
Icelandic Salmon continues to see strong interest for its
products. The company benefitted from high average weight on fish
sold.
Icelandic Salmon holds licenses for 23,700 tonnes maximum
allowed biomass (MAB) in the Icelandic Westfjords. The company
expects to be awarded another 10,000 tonnes MAB license shortly,
for sterile salmon at three more sites in Ísafjörður.
Outlook
For the year 2024 as a whole, Icelandic Salmon maintains that it
expects to harvest 15,000 tonnes. The spring 2022 generation is
performing well and shows significant improvements on key
parameters.
“For the longer-term, we see a potential for growth up to 26,000
tonnes on existing licenses, and based on the results we see of
quality on smolt and the performance of our spring 2022 generation,
we expect to get there soon. We are a committed team with strong
company culture, and with a value chain which is well prepared to
handle higher volumes,” said Bjørn Hembre, before concluding:
“As a leading producer of salmon, we are concerned that the
uncertainty of the process with implementing new aquaculture law
has introduced could be making it more difficult for Iceland to
build further on this new pillar of our economy where
competitiveness is of key importance in the global markets. We
remain committed, however, to work with policy makers and other
stakeholders to establish a balanced, competitive and predictable
legal and fiscal framework going forward.”
Presentation details
Attached is the presentation for the first quarter 2024.
The company's CEO Bjørn Hembre and CFO Jónas Heiðar Birgisson
will be presenting the company's results at 9:00 Icelandic time
(11:00 CEST). The presentation will be held in English via webcast,
please copy and paste the following link into your browser:
www.arnarlax.webcast.is.
There will be a Q&A session after the presentations so you
can send in questions during the presentation to
questions@arnarlax.is
A recording of the presentation will be made available on the
company's website.
After the presentation there is an opportunity to book
one-on-one meeting either at our office in Reykjavík (Borgartún 18)
or on Teams between 10:15 - 15:00 Icelandic time, if interested,
please send an email to hjortur@arnarlax.is
For further information, please contact:
CEO Bjørn Hembre Tel: +354 620 1936 Email: bjorn@arnarlax.is
CFO Jónas Heiðar Birgisson Tel: +354 855 7760 Email:
jonas@arnarlax.is
About Icelandic Salmon:
Icelandic Salmon is listed at the Euronext Growth and Nasdaq
First North. The company is the 100% owner of Arnarlax ehf, the
leading farming company in Iceland with their head office in
Bildudalur. The company is fully integrated, from egg to the fish
is delivered to customers in the market, with control over all
parts of the value chain.
See https://www.arnarlax.is for more information about the
company.
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements
pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
- Q1_2024 - Icelandic Salmon Presentation - Final Version