Norway Royal Salmon (NRS) reports an operational EBIT of MNOK 17 for the fourth quarter of 2020 and EBIT per kg of NOK 5.05. Corresponding figures for the same quarter last year were MNOK 136 and NOK 17.71.

- The market price of salmon has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and has been low in the quarter. Our margins in this quarter are affected by this, even though production costs have been reduced slightly from the previous quarter. The biomass in the sea has increased during the quarter and is 15 % higher than at the end of the same quarter last year. This leads to that NRS has almost fully utilized our licenses at the end of the quarter, says CEO Charles Høstlund.

For the financial year of 2020, NRS has operating revenues of NOK 5.1 billion and achieved an operational EBIT of MNOK 246. The Board proposes a dividend of NOK 3.00 per share for 2020.

NRS has a solid financial position with MNOK 1 422 in unutilized credit facilities at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. NRS has strengthened its financial capacity during the quarter and has been granted MNOK 800 in an increased loan facility with a sustainability loan. Payments for the growth investments in Arctic Offshore Farming and the new smolt facility, have resulted in an increase in net interest-bearing debt by MNOK 577 to MNOK 1 522 in the quarter. The equity at the end of the quarter is MNOK 3 131, which equates an equity ratio of 54 %.

Farming

Farming posted an operational EBIT of MNOK 36.1 in the quarter, compared with MNOK 146.0 in the corresponding quarter last year. Operational EBIT per kg gutted weight was NOK 5.05 compared with NOK 17.71 in the corresponding quarter last year.

NRS harvested 7 148 tonnes gutted weight in the quarter, which is 13 % lower than in the same quarter last year. For 2020, the harvest volume was 30 509 tonnes gutted weight and for 2021 the harvest volume is estimated to 40 000 tonnes, which is an increase of 31 % compared with 2020. Sold volume from the sales business in the quarter was 23 244 tonnes salmon, which is 6 % lower than in the corresponding quarter last year.

We are currently in the final phase of the listing process of Arctic Fish on Euronext Growth on the Oslo Stock Exchange, and as part of this process, NRS has increased its stake to 51.3 %. Arctic Fish is an Icelandic salmon farming company that estimates to harvest 12 000 tonnes of salmon in 2021 and currently has a production cost in line with the average production cost of Norwegian salmon farming companies. Arctic Fish has a significant growth potential and estimates to harvest approximately 24 000 tonnes in 2025, says Charles Høstlund.

For more information, please contact:

  • CEO Charles Høstlund, +47 994 18 449
  • CFO Ola Loe, +47 911 79 411

Norway Royal Salmon in brief

The Norway Royal Salmon (NRS) group owns 36 085 tonnes MAB for salmon farming located in Troms and Finnmark, and 11 800 tonnes MAB for salmon farming and 5 300 MAB for trout farming on Iceland through the company Arctic Fish. In addition, the group has minority interest in three associated Norwegian fish farming companies which together own 11 fish farming licenses. NRS is an attractively positioned fish farming group, which offers salmon to the market through its own sales organisation. For further details, please visit www.norwayroyalsalmon.com.

https://news.cision.com/norway-royal-salmon-asa/r/norway-royal-salmon--nrs--q4-20---operational-ebit-of-mnok-17,c3287334

https://mb.cision.com/Main/15973/3287334/1373363.pdf

https://mb.cision.com/Public/15973/3287334/9508844d716c6ce6.pdf

(c) 2021 Cision. All rights reserved., source Press Releases - English