Puerto Natales, Chile-headquartered salmon-farming firm AquaChile hauled in net profits of USD 29.6 million (EUR 27.1 million) during the first six months of 2024, compared to a net loss of USD 44.1 million (EUR 40.3 million) during the same period of 2023, according to consolidated first-half results recently released by the firm’s parent company, Agrosuper.
AquaChile’s operating revenues in the period came in at USD 882 million (EUR 807 million), up 9.5 percent compared to USD 805 million (EUR 736 million) during the first six months of 2023. Cost of sales totaled USD 686 million (EUR 627 million), compared to USD 614 million (EUR 562 million) year over year, while the firm’s EBITDA excluding fair value came in at USD 111 million (EUR 101 million), down 6.6 percent when compared to the first half of 2023.
The firm’s higher profits and revenues, even amid increased costs, were due to AquaChile achieving higher prices on its sales year over year, thanks to a higher percentage of premium product and higher unit weights. The high prices achieved came despite fresh salmon fillet prices decreasing in the U.S. industry-wide when compared to the same period last year.
Overall, parent company Agrosuper’s revenues for the first half of 2024 came in at USD 2.14 billion (EUR 1.96 billion), slipping 0.6 percent from the same period in 2023, mainly due to lower average prices in its meat segment. However, the firm achieved higher sales volumes in its aquaculture segment.
In Q2 2024, 40 percent of Agrosuper’s revenues came from its aquaculture segment, and 59 percent came from the meat segment, which mirrored the breakdown from Q2 2023.
Agrosuper said it invested USD 8 million (EUR 7.3 million) in fixed assets of its aquaculture segment in the second quarter of this year, compared to USD 11 million (EUR 10 million) in Q2 2023.
In June, AquaChile was accused of producing 10,508 metric tons of production beyond its permitted environmental limits. The company was one of nine Chilean salmon-farming firms denounced by local environmental NGO Terram for having racked up 95 cases of overproduction in operations located in the country’s natural reserves from 2012 to 2023 that largely went unpunished by the Chilean Superintendence of the Environment (SMA).
