But salmon and trout are still most important to the seafood conglomerate.
Austevoll Seafood had operating revenues of NOK 5,306 million (EUR 502 million) in the quarter, compared with NOK 6,079 million (EUR 575 million) in the second quarter of 2019. EBIT before value adjustment related to biological assets in the quarter ended at NOK 446 million (EUR 42 million) against NOK 874 million (EUR 82 million) in the same period last year.
Read also: Lerøy Q2 result shaken by price fall
The main reason for lower earnings compared to the same period last year is lower margins per kilo of Atlantic salmon and trout, this as a result of significantly lower price achievement and higher costs per kilo slaughtered, the company states in a stock exchange release, according to an announcement from the company.
Austevoll Seafood’s most important asset is the company’s controlling shareholding in Lerøy Seafood Group.
Earnings from pelagic operations have increased compared to the same period last year. The increase is mainly due to the operations in Chile, which have had good raw material supply, increased production activity and a higher sales volume of finished products compared with the same quarter last year. The second fishing season in Peru started in mid-May with a total quota of 2.4 million tonnes, which is an increase from 2.1 million tonnes in the same season in 2019. Late start of the season, as well as significantly lower inventory of finished products at the beginning of the second quarter has led to lower sales volume from operations in Peru in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year.
In the current Covid-19 situation, the companies in the group have put considerable effort into ensuring the safety of the group’s employees and have had a strong focus on keeping the value chain operational. Despite some extremely challenging conditions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the companies in Chile and Peru have completed the fishing season and fished 100 percent of their respective allocated quotas for the season.
Pelagia has, as usual, had a low season in consumer production, but high activity with a good supply of raw materials in the production of fishmeal and oil.
