Norwegian Atlantic salmon smolt producer BioFish posted a loss in Q2 2024 after it conducted no deliveries in the quarter.
The company, which produces smolt in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Ljones, Norway, said it delivered no smolt in Q2 2024 – which was in line with its production plan for the year. In its most recent quarterly report, BioFish said its next deliveries are planned for Q3 2024 and it secured a contract in June to deliver between 170,000 and 180,000 post-smolt to an aquaculture company.
Due to posting no revenue in the quarter, the company posted a loss. Its operational EBIT was a loss of NOK 11.4 million (USD 1.1 million, EUR 966,000), worsening from the NOK 2.9 million (USD 272,000, EUR 245,000) loss it posted in Q2 2023.
For the first half of the year, the company posted a revenue of NOK 17.2 million (USD 1.6 million, EUR 1.5 million), which was down from the NOK 20.1 million (USD 1.8 million, EUR 1.7 million) it posted in H1 2023. The lower revenue coincided with the reduced deliveries; the company delivered 206 metric tons (MT) of smolt in Q1 2024 compared to 275 MT of smolt in Q1 2023.
Its EBIT for the first half of the year also dropped to a loss of NOK 13.6 million (USD 1.3 million, EUR 1.2 million), down from a loss of NOK 7.3 million (USD 685,000, EUR 619,000).
BioFish CEO Sondre Hagerup Johnsrud said that the company is seeing strong demand for its product going forward.
“With a good track record in terms of biological performance, BioFish is viewed as an attractive supplier of high-quality, healthy smolt and post-smolt by leading salmon farmers in Norway,” Johnsrud said.
The company said it has had strong biological performance of its smolt, and that it expects demand for its products to increase. The company completed a new RAS facility in 2023, and has licensing to produce up to 5 million smolt and a discharge license for 2,200 MT.
“Moving forward, demand for smolt and post-smolt is expected to develop positively, supported by strong market fundamentals. The company expects to grow production to an estimated 800 to 900 tons in 2024 and further increase the production in 2025,” Johnsrud said. “For the long term, we are exploring various strategies to grow our operations, with the overall ambition to meet the growing demand for high-quality smolt and post-smolt while contributing to solutions for key challenges in the aquaculture industry.”
