Aiming for ten per-cent volume growth in 2019.
EBIT this quarter was EUR 35.9 million – up 84% from Q4 2017’s EUR 15.4 million. The salmon farmer attributed those increases in earnings through higher prices and a reduction in costs per kg, in a stock exchange announced on Wednesday morning.
The average realised price for Grieg Seafood was up by EUR 5.6 per kg compared to Q4 2017. Grieg Seafood’s total operating income in Q4 2018 amounted to EUR 217.9 million, an increase of 23% compared to the same period last year.
The company harvested 24 000 tonnes (+27%) driven by strong biological performance in Norway. However, Shetland still has high costs due to continued biological challenges such as gill-related disease. In British Columbia, Canada, the company enjoyed a good quarterly production with high average harvest weight albeit with continued high costs.
EBIT per kilo was EUR 1,51 in the quarter, compared to EUR 1,47 in 2017.
Commenting on the Group’s performance, CEO Andreas Kvame, said: “Q4 2018 ended a strong year for Grieg Seafood in which we reached our last guiding harvest volume of 75 000 tonnes – an increase of 20% compared to 2017 – and revenues of more than NOK 7.5 billion (EUR 768 million). This was achieved by maintaining a strict focus on sustainability and driving forward improvements to our farming operations.”
“Throughout the year we introduced several initiatives, including advanced sensor- and monitoring systems across our four regions. In September we opened a new operations centre in Rogaland, supporting our digitalization strategy utilizing big data analytics to improve overall operational performance.
The company expects to harvest 82 000 tonnes of fish in 2019, an increase of 10 per-cent.
