Salmon producer Salmones Austral has posted an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $22.7 million, as the company rebounded following a challenging 2020.
The company’s 2021 result marks an improvement from the negative EBITDA of $7.6 million reported in 2020. In total, Salmones Austral achieved post-tax profits of $20.8 million. A year earlier, the company posted post-tax losses of $27.5 million.
The boost to the company’s EBITDA came from a rise in revenues that was sparked by a combination of an increase in the volume of the coho species of salmon sold and the spike in the higher average sales price.
Salmones Austral’s financial statements, as of December 31, 2021, showed that the company secured sales of 49,889 tons last year, equivalent to an increase of 27.6 percent, compared to shipments that were made in 2020. Higher volumes and a higher average sales price saw company revenue reach $251.2 million, a year-on-year rise of 39.8 percent.
The results were explained by a change in the sales method of the coho species, with shipments sold at the beginning of 2021, generating a 26 percent annual increase in total volume sold. This was further bolstered by the higher average sales price, which rose from $4.27 per kilo in 2020 to $4.97 per kilo in 2021.
Alongside the “positive” financial results, Christian Samsing, vice president of Salmones Austral, celebrated several milestones for the company that helped drive its results. “We started production in the Magallanes Region, we had the first batches of production in our Los Arrayanes fish farm and we launched Secret Island, our online sales channel in the United States, which will allow us to better penetrate the retail base of this market,” Samsing said.
“Another positive element was the increase in prices that we saw at the end of 2021 and that have continued this year. Although prices are historically high, it should not be forgotten that the costs of food and transportation have also increased considerably as a result of the disruptions caused by the pandemic. In that sense, we hope that the operation in Los Arrayanes will help us reduce costs in 2022”, Samsing added.
