“I’m confident that Marine Harvest is well positioned to optimize under the short term challenges arising from the Russian sanctions, due to our global presence, sales contract hedging and high degree of financial flexibility,” stated Alf-Helge Aarskog, chief executive officer of Marine Harvest, as the Bergen, Norway-headquartered company announced record high second quarter results for 2014.
As of August 6, exports from the world’s largest producer of farm-raised salmon were no longer welcome in Russia, due to President Vladimir Putin’s ban on all food and agricultural imports from nations that have imposed economic sanctions against his country as a result of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and its support of pro-Russian rebels fighting Ukrainian government troops. In addition to Norway, Putin’s list includes the USA, Canada, all European Union member states and Australia.
Meanwhile, on August 27 Marine Harvest reported an operational EBIT of NOK 1.2 billion (US $194 million) for the second quarter of 2014, compared to NOK 901 million ($146 million) during the corresponding quarter of 2013.
The salmon farming titan reported operational revenues and other income of NOK 6.6 billion ($1.1 billion) in the same quarter of 2014. Total harvest volumes totaled 114,176 metric tons (MT) in the quarter, up from 79,438 during the same period of 2013. The company expects to harvest a total of 414,000 MT in 2014.
“The second quarter was strong for Marine Harvest, with record high profit and volume. As a consequence of the good results, the board has resolved a quarterly dividend of NOK 1 per share,” said Aarskog.
Salmon of Norwegian origin achieved an operational EBIT per kilo of NOK 12.16 ($1.97) in the quarter, while salmon of Scottish and Canadian origin registered operational EBIT per kilo of NOK 12.19 ($1.97) and NOK 11.01 ($1.78), respectively. Salmon of Chilean origin achieved an operational EBIT per kilo of NOK 5.50 ($0.89).
The figures include contribution from the company’s sales and marketing divisions, including Brugge, Belgium-based VAP Europe and Morpol Processing of Ustka, Poland. Marine Harvest VAP Europe reported an operational EBIT loss of NOK 4 million ($646,83) compared to NOK 7 million ($ 1.1 million in the second quarter of 2013. Morpol Processing reported an operational EBIT of NOK 24 million ($3.9 million).
