Following a successful placement in February, Atlantic Sapphire now has total funds of $90 million, along with $100 million of undrawn debt.
Atlantic Sapphire’s CFO Karl Øystein Øyehaug provided an operational update at the Atlantic Seafood Forum in Bergen last week, highlighting strong biomass growth in recent batches of land-based salmon farming.
“Im going to talk about temperature, hopefully one of the last times i will have to do so,” joked Øyehaug.
The temperature-related challenges faced by the company, were however no laughing matter, according to the CFO, who acknowledged their impact on both the growth and quality of the company’s salmon, leading to some fish batches maturing early.
These issues now look to be resolved, with the company’s installation of 9,000 cooling tons of capacity proving a game changer, according to Øyehaug, who said the additional capacity had succeeded in bringing down average water temperatures to around 14 degrees.
The maximum anticipated need, during peak summer days, is for 7,000 tons capacity, according to the company, with a safety margin of 2,000 tons from the coolers, and a further 2,000 tons available from a heat exchanger.
“We are seeing strong biomass growth across all the recent batches,” reported the CFO.
Atlantic Sapphire ended 2023 with $38 million in cash on its balance sheet. The decision to strengthen the balance sheet, raising more funds in February, was driven by challenges caused by early maturation, according to Øyehaug, who said the company wanted to be “ahead of the curve on the problems” caused by the issue.
Following this financial move, Atlantic Sapphire now has total funds of $90 million, along with $100 million of undrawn debt.
More than $100 million has been invested in phase 2 of construction at the Miami site, with a total of more than $650 million in equity invested since the company’s inception.
Øyehaug also highlighted the market reach of Bluehouse salmon, currently carried by 2,000 locations in North America. The company anticipates a price of $14 on premium fish, constituting at least 80% of their produce.
