Aquaculture technology provider AKVA Group posted increased revenues and profitability in the fourth quarter of 2023 but stated that the introduction of Norway’s new resource rent tax on salmon farming has negatively impacted both its land- and sea-based business segments.
Delivering AKVA’s Q4 2023 results on 16 February 2024, CEO Knut Nesse said the company’s activities in 2023 remained relatively the same as the previous year, and even though its profitability improved, it still did not meet expectations.
The company’s Land-Based Technology (LBT) business has “suffered for a few years now,” Nesse said, highlighting a trend that has continued due to high costs and lower profitability in parts of the project portfolio. The performance of AKVA’s Sea-Based Technology (SBT) segment, meanwhile, has remained solid with a healthy product mix, according to Nesse.
LBT revenues for the quarter totaled NOK 142 million (USD 13.5 million, EUR 12.5 million) – down NOK 21 million (USD 2 million, EUR 1.9 million) year over year. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and EBIT ended the period at NOK -15 million (USD -1.4 million, EUR -1.3 million) and NOK -18 million (USD -1.7 million, EUR -1.6 million), compared to NOK -27 million (USD -2.6 million, EUR -2.4 million) and NOK -28 million (USD -2.7 million, EUR -2.5 million) in Q4 2022.
Revenues earned by SBT in Q4 2023, meanwhile, totaled NOK 618 million (USD 58.8 million, EUR 54.6 million), which was up from the NOK 592 million (USD 56.3 million, EUR 52.3 million) reported by the segment a year previously.
The restructuring and rightsizing process that AKVA implemented to ensure the organization could properly adapt to the resource tax concluded in Q4, helping the company assure annual estimated cost savings of ...
Photo courtesy of AKVA Group
