Commercial, agricultural and aquacultural building maker Gråkjær had a turnover of EUR 86.2 million in 2018 but left with a bottom line of minus EUR 4 million.
According to the company, the weak result is down to the investment in land-based farms, as well as drought and poor agricultural settlement prices.
This is according to a press release from Gråkjær, which has been reported in several Danish newspapers.
“It was a chance game to focus on fish farming on land – right now. There is great interest in fish as the food of the future. However, we are still too early in the market with this. I am sure that there will be opportunities to make big money on land-based fish farming in the future,” said founder and CEO John Gråkjær in the press release.
Lack of funding
Gråkjær has, among other things, set up facilities in Dubai, South Africa and Norway, where they were selected as the contractor for the Fredrikstad Seafoods plant. This collaboration ended in bitter conflict and trial.
According to the press release to Gråkjær, there is the talk of land-based aquaculture projects worth EUR 26-36 million, which lack the final funding. The projects also took longer than expected by Gråkjær, which meant that the company had to adjust and relocate employees in the organization.
EUR 3 million injected
On January 1 this year, John Gråkjær made his comeback as CEO. According to Lemvig Folkebladet, former CEO Jan Larsen had to leave the company due to poor results.
John Gråkjær himself injected around EUR 3.3 million into the company at the beginning of the year. Talking to Lemvig Folkebladet, he explained why.
“The DKK 25 million (EUR 3.3 million) that I put in was so that we would not start the next financial year by being in arrears. We wanted a good start,” said Gråkjær.
“We have always relied on having strong equity and good credit ratings. It is important for our partners – it is important for our reputation – and it is especially important for our freedom of action in the market in which we operate”.
Gråkjær said that the company got off to a good start in the new financial year with profits in the first months and positive development in the order book.
