Salmon farmer says “first quarter turned out largely as expected”.
Grieg has posted a Q1 2021 EBIT of EUR -1.6 million, compared to EUR 21 million in the same period the year before.
Revenue was EUR 66 million, down from EUR 110 million in Q1 2020. EBIT/kg was -0.11 compared to EUR 1.3 the same period in 2020.
An operating deficit of EUR 0.4 million was expected in advance, according to TDN Direkt.
The salmon farmer blamed an oversupply of downgraded salmon in the market due to winter ulcers impacted margins in Norway. It added that the process to divest Shetland operations is ongoing and assets classified as held for sale and not included in EBIT.
Commenting on the Group’s performance, CEO Andreas Kvame, said: “The first quarter turned out largely as expected. Covid-19 continued to characterise our markets, impacting price achievement. Equally, our employees and supply chains continued to show resilience and flexibility, keeping the wheels turning on a steady pace”.
“Our plan stays firm; we will improve profitability, streamline the organisation, and secure financial capacity. The bulk of our investment in Newfoundland is now behind us and we have gained increased flexibility through the bridge loan that has been extended to Q1 2022. The process to divest our business in Shetland is ongoing, and is proceeding according to plan.
“Operationally, BC continued their strong biological performance, building on operational improvement efforts implemented over the last few years. Finnmark’s performance was impacted by challenging biology in the region, including low temperatures, ISA and winter ulcers. In Rogaland, biological performance was relatively good, with increased survival and no outbreaks of PD. Our Newfoundland freshwater operations also went well and according to schedule, where the first fish will be transferred to sea during the coming summer.”
Grieg wrote that it expects a 15 400 tonnes harvest in Q2, and 80 000 tonnes (ex. Shetland) for the full year 2021.
