EBIT for the salmon farming side of the business was minus half a million.
Blumar posted its Q1 results on the Santiago Stock Exchange with a 2.3 per cent increase in EBIT. EBIT for the salmon farming side of the business was minus half a million dollars.
The aquaculture segment also registered a 2 per cent increase in revenue attributed to the higher volume of Atlantic salmon sold (13 per cent) which was offset by the 10% drop in price.
Overall, Blumar had a 5 per cent increase in revenue to USD 115.8 million from last year’s USD 108 million. USD 72.1 million was driven from salmon.
“The results accumulated at the end of the first quarter of the year 2020 with respect to the same period of the year 2019 compare favorably in the case of the fishing segment and negatively in the aquaculture segment. In the fishing segment, the highest sales of frozen horse mackerel and fish oil stand out. In the aquaculture segment, the lower result is due to a drop of 10% in the average sales price compared to the same period of the previous year, which decreased from USD 6.10 to 5.52 USD / kg WFE,” wrote Blumar.
Volume of Atlantic salmon sold at the end of the first quarter of 2020 showed an increase of 13 per cent compared to the same period in 2019 and the average price fell by 10 per cent. Of the total Atlantic salmon harvested in 2020, 4,633 tonnes wfe are attributable to subsidiary BluRiver, which operates in the Magallanes Region.
“These tonnes, in turn, were harvested at a historical cost for the company of USD 2.97 per kg wfe and were processed mainly at the salmon plant in Talcahuano, pending the completion of the construction of the EntreVientos plant in Punta Sands, which will generate lower processing and logistics costs for the secondary process,” Blumar added.
For coho salmon, sales volume increased by 6 per cent compared to the end of the first quarter of 2019, and the price fell by 15 per cent due to an increase in the supply of coho salmon.
Looking ahead, the lower demand from distribution channels to restaurants, as a result of the pandemic, “is generating a significant drop in prices in the largest salmon consumption markets, which is projected to continue in the coming quarters,” it concluded.
In terms of inventory, an increase of USD 11.7 million was explained in turn by the higher inventories of salmon (USD 4.4 million) and fishmeal (USD 2.5 million), both increases given the higher productions compared to the last quarter of 2019.
On Tuesday, Blumar announced an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to be held in the next 30 days in order to vote on a USD 40 million capital increase, reported Aqua.cl.
