The Russian salmon market grew by 50 per cent in the first half of 2021.
On Tuesday, Russian Aquaculture, the largest company in the country’s commercial aquaculture sector, announced its financial results for the first six months of 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA reached RUB 2.4 billion (€28 million), up 6 per cent from the previous year. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 36 per cent. Net profit totalled RUB 2.0 billion (€23 million), compared with a loss of RUB 0.4 billion in 1H 2020. Revenue increased by 28 per cent year-on-year to RUB 6.7 billion (€77 million). Biomass totalled 22.2 thousand tonnes as of the end of 1H 2021, compared with 9.3 thousand tonnes as of the end of 1H 2020.
Together with dividends for Q1 2021 and FY 2020, the company will pay out a total of RUB 1.1 billion (€13 million) in dividends, or RUB 13 per share, this year.
Russian Aquaculture CEO Ilya Sosnov said: “We grew production volumes considerably in 1H 2021, which had a positive impact on revenue and EBITDA. In addition, thanks to the excellent rate of weight gain of our fish, we delivered net profit of nearly RUB 2 billion (€23 million).”
“Our results in the first half of the year were also supported by growth of the market. The Russian salmon market grew by 50 per cent in the first half of 2021 in volume terms compared with the first half of 2020, and by 47 per cent compared with the first half of 2019. This growth further reinforces our conviction in the fundamental long-term outlook for the Russian fish market and prospects for increasing sales volumes of our fresh, high-quality products.
“We continue to invest in implementing our growth strategy, allocating RUB 2.2 billion (€25 million) during the period to buy processing capacities and equipment for our farms. We have successfully integrated our primary processing plant into all of our business processes, bringing us much closer to our goal of building the largest vertically integrated player in the aquaculture segment.”
“Our strong results, combined with a high degree financial stability, enabled the Board of Directors to recommend paying out dividends totalling RUB 352 million based on the results of the first half of the year. Together with dividends for Q1 2021 and FY 2020, we will pay out a total of RUB 1.1 billion (€13 million) in dividends, or RUB 13 per share, this year.”
