BioMar 2020 earnings solid thanks to salmon performance
DANISH-based aquafeed business BioMar Group has reported revenue and earnings slightly up for 2020, thanks to strong performance in its salmon division. Revenue for 2020 was up 4.2% to DKK 11,649m (£1,351m) and EBITDA was DKK 972m (£112.8m, just 0.6% more than 2019).
The full-year result was driven positively by increased sales volume and cost savings, while partially offset by unfavourable exchange rates and extraordinary costs related to the pandemic.
Salmon feed volumes were up by 7% in 2020 compared to 2019. The company credited new product offerings, “an agile adaption to the changing market situation” and a new production facility in Australia. However, pressure on margins and exchange rates limited the impact on the bottom-line and kept both revenue and results broadly in line with 2019.
BioMar supplies feed for the aquaculture sector in around 80 countries and for more than 45 different species.
Carlos Diaz, CEO of the BioMar Group, said: “We are leaving 2020 with a very strong position in the salmon feed markets. The pandemic has demanded agile collaboration with our customers adapting feeding strategies and product solutions. We have been able to be close to the markets and took fast decisions across the globe despite travel restrictions and lockdowns.”
He said that in the European markets outside salmon, and in the shrimp feed markets, customers been impacted significantly by a challenged food service sector, export restrictions and the damages of storm Gloria which affected the Mediterranean area, reducing farming capacity especially in Spain.
Diaz said: “Despite the circumstances, we have realised an acceptable year in our EMEA division as well as in our shrimp feed.