Steep fall for Chilean salmon farmer.
Australis Seafoods posted its latest Q1 results with over a 90 per cent drop in EBIT, which fell from Q1 2019’s USD 16.6 million to USD 1.5 million.
The Chinese owned (Joyvio Group, a subsidary of Legend Holdings) company’s income recorded totalled USD 94.6 million, representing a 4 per cent decrease compared to 2019.
During the year, there was a decrease in the prices of Atlantic salmon and trout compared to the same period of the previous year. The decrease in the price per species was 5.7 per cent for Atlantic and 11 per cent for trout. At the consolidated level, the FOB price was USD 5.41 per kg versus USD 5.84 per kg compared to the same period of 2019, which represents a decrease of 7.4 per cent.
Volume harvested during the quarter increased by 4.1 per cent compared to the previous year.
During the first quarter of 2020, sales were affected by a decrease in the demand of the different markets as a result of the social distancing measures that directly affected the foodservice, restaurants and hotels segment. In turn, a decrease in prices was observed in Australis Seafoods’ markets.
“In productive terms, the main complications have been due to logistical problems, due to the decrease in flights, which in turn impacted on the coordination of harvest and process,” the salmon farmer wrote.
“The medium-term impact, as a result of this contingency, is still uncertain, so measures have been taken to protect the company’s financial situation, such as reducing expenses and investments, along with obtaining new lines of financing to maintain liquidity,” added Australis Seafoods.
