Troubled land-based salmon producer Atlantic Sapphire, experienced a dramatic collapse in its share price over the past week, culminating in an 80% drop in value on 21 August 2024.
This significant downturn has raised concerns about the company’s financial stability and future prospects.
The company’s stock, which was trading at NOK 5.00 ($0.47/€0.43) on 16 August, closed at NOK 0.91 ($0.09/€0.08) on 22 August, reflecting growing concerns over the company’s financial health.
On 21 August, the stock tumbled from NOK 4.098 ($0.38/€0.35) to NOK 0.84 ($0.08/€0.07), a significant one-day loss that has rattled investors.
The steep decline occurred on the same day that Blue Future Holding, a major shareholder and close associate of board member Patrick Dempster, offloaded 2.25 million shares. The following day, Blue Future Holding sold its remaining 2.17 million shares at NOK 1.0002 ($0.09/€0.08) per share, totaling approximately NOK 2.17 million ($204,758/€184,799).
Blue Future Holding, an investment company owned by Germany’s EW Group, was one of the largest owners of the land-based producer. Until Wednesday, the company owned 4.42 million shares, or 3.95 percent of Atlantic Sapphire.
The timing of this large-scale sell-off, coinciding with the stock’s rapid decline, has raised questions about the confidence of key insiders in the company’s future.
Atlantic Sapphire has not yet issued a statement addressing the reasons behind the dramatic drop in its stock price or the insider sales.
