Share price plunges 11 per-cent after disappointing figures.
While its competitor SalMar, almost as usual, delivers strong figures, Grieg Seafood is getting a beating on the Oslo Stock Exchange after the first quarter results were presented. EUR 100 million has been wiped off its market value during an hour’s trading.
High operating costs and weak price attainment ate up profitability in the first three months of the year. However, Grieg Seafood expects even higher costs in the second quarter of 2021.
“I would like to emphasise that although costs come up slightly in the second quarter, our forecasts and what we see going forward are that we will be down to a cost level down to NOK 40 (EUR 3.9 .ed) – perhaps below – in both regions of the Norway by the end of the year,” said CEO Andreas Kvame at the company’s quarterly presentation, according to financial news site TDN Finans.
“This was originally targeted in 2022, and is related to the cost and improvement programmes we have carried out over the past 1-2 years,” he said.
Fearnley Securities is downgrading its 2021 operating profit estimate by 4-5 per-cent after the report.
“We continue to believe that Grieg’s equity story depends on the disposal of assets in Shetland, and estimate that the company will breach loan terms at the end of the year,” the investment bank wrote in an update.
