Russia’s largest aquaculture company not short on ambition as it aims for “long-term goal of becoming the largest vertically integrated player in the industry”.
The salmon farmer, which has operations in the Barents Sea in the Murmansk region, posted its financial results for FY 2020.
Revenue decreased from 2019’s EUR 97.5 million to EUR 92.4 million. Operating profit decreased from EUR 42.2 million to EUR 36.5 million.
The company had an operational farming EBIT of EUR 2.2 per kilo. This puts it “second place amongst its 22 global peers,” Russian Aquaculture wrote.
Russian Aquaculture posted a slight decrease in sales volume as a result of the delayed start of the harvesting season in 2020 due to an unseasonably cold spring and summer.
Because of this, the harvest was partially moved to 2021, and this is reflected in the growth of biological assets, which reached record levels. Sales prices increased by an average of four per-cent.
The company said it had entered into direct supply contracts with leading chains and processors. Furthermore, a new brand called Inarctica for its ultra-fresh fish was launched.
“We were able to continue our operations uninterrupted, without losing a single day of production. Despite a decline in the global salmon market amid the pandemic and challenging climatic conditions, we delivered strong operational and financial results and strengthened the company’s core fundamentals, paving the way for future growth,” said Russian Aquaculture CEO Ilya Sosnov.
He added that Russian Aquaculture was investing in the company further and as “a result of the option to increase our stake in our processing plant, the acquisition of two new high-quality fish farms (Pitkov Bay and Tyuva Bay .ed) and the launch of our new Inarctica brand, we are closer to achieving our long-term goal of becoming the largest vertically integrated player in the aquaculture industry”.
In March 2021, the company successfully placed three-year bonds totalling EUR 33 million with an annual coupon rate of 9.5 per-cent. The bond issue was 55 per-cent purchased by Russian retail investors.
Russian Aquaculture added that it is executing a growth strategy with the target of producing 35,000 tonnes by 2025.
On the back of results for 1H 2020, the first dividends in 10 years were paid out and amounted to RUB 5 per share.
