Salmones Camanchaca published Thursday its financial statements for the second quarter of the year.
In this second quarter, which explains only 13% of the estimated harvests for the year for Salmones Camanchaca, salmon harvests were slightly greater than 7,100 tons WFE, 35.9% lower than the same period of 2018. The volume harvested in the first half was 16.4% lower compared to the same period of the previous year, reported Salmones Camanchaca.
Consistent with the lower volumes harvested and sold between January and June 2019, revenues from farmed salmon were 11.9% lower compared to the same period in 2018, with sales prices that remained stable.
As a result of the smaller scale and cost situation, EBITDA in the first half reached US$ 21.5 million, 38% lower than the same period of 2018. Net profit reached US$ 11.2 million, 41% lower than the US$ 18.8 million recorded between January and June 2018, according to Salmones Camanchaca.
Recovery in harvest estimates
However, after observing good conditions of biomass growth in recent months, Salmones Camanchaca adjusted its estimates to the original 55,000 tons WFE estimated at the beginning of the year, from the 52,000 tons WFE announced last May.
“The good conditions of growth and conversion that biomass has had at sea allow us to be optimistic and correct upward our harvest projections for this year,” said Ricardo García, vice chairman of Salmones Camanchaca, who added that “this way, the conditions should mitigate the effects of low oxygen and algae that we reported at the end of the first quarter.”
“The company estimates that these unfavorable factors present until April, added to a small production scale, and harvests of sites stocked at low density, negatively affected, as expected, harvest and process costs. These causes are not present in the harvests of the second half, which concentrates about 70% of the harvests of the full year 2019,” commented Ricardo García.
Four sites with greater sea lice level
Regarding the news of greater sea lice levels, Salmones Camanchaca reported that although there has been an increase compared to 2018, it has not been necessary to harvest earlier compared to the plan and the fish show good feed conversion ratios.
Currently, Salmones Camanchaca maintains four sites with greater sea lice levels, out of nineteen operating, and the company is implementing additional measures to control this parasite, including this year 2019 the use of non-pharmacological treatments.
