Bergen, Norway-headquartered Lerøy Seafood Group (LSG) posted slight dips in revenue and operational EBIT in Q2 2024, but the firm saw quarter-over-quarter biological and earnings improvements, especially in the operations of Scottish Sea Farms, of which it owns 50 percent.
LSG CEO Henning Beltestad said the company performed well in a quarter characterized by declining salmon prices, increasing its average harvest weights from 3.9 kilograms to 4.7 kilograms in the period.
The company reported a consolidated operational EBIT of NOK 906 million (USD 86 million, EUR 77.2 million), compared to NOK 950 million (USD 90.8 million, EUR 81 million) in Q2 2023, and revenues of NOK 7.6 billion (USD 721.5 million, EUR 647.8 million), compared to NOK 7.7 billion (USD 735 million, EUR 657 million) in the same period a year prior.
Due to the biological improvement, the company reduced the number of sea lice treatments it carried out, and growth and survival rates substantially increased compared to the average over the past five years. As such, the quarterly salmon and trout harvest volume increased 24 percent year over year to 36,709 gutted weight tonnage (GWT).
Regarding Scottish Seafarms, Beltestad said that after some challenging years, it was “really good” to see the improvements that have been made.
“There was a strong biological development in the quarter, and the next generation of fish are performing well,” he said. “There’s a significant increase in year-over-year harvest volume, weights, and growth while reducing mortality.”
The full-year 2024 harvest guidance for the region remains at 37,000 GWT.
“We see significant potential for growth beyond 2024,” Beltestad said. “It’s been a really good performance, and we are really pleased to see this development.”
In Norway, Lerøy’s Farming segment …
