Marine Harvest ‘pleased’ despite profit drop

MARINE Harvest achieved a lower operational income in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, attributed to the challenging market conditions in the Americas and higher cost of harvested fish.

In its latest financial report, the Norwegian firm reported an operational EBIT amounting to NOK 720 million (USD 85.7 million) compared to NOK 912 million (USD 108.6 million) in the third quarter of 2014.

However, the firm’s representatives considered that this is ‘another record-breaking quarter’, supported by the strong demand in Europe and Asia.

‘I am very pleased with another record-breaking quarter in Marine Harvest Fish Feed,’ said the group’s CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog.

‘There is a strong demand for salmon in Europe and the market balance for 2016 is expected to remain tight.’

Marine Harvest faced increased production costs in Norway due to the higher price of feed, blamed on the El Niño phenomenon that has hit the availability of fishmeal and fish oil. Sea lice mitigation costs were also high.

‘The main challenge for the Norwegian farming operations is sea lice, and substan- tial effort is put in to mitigate and solve the challenge,’ the company said.

There were also challenging biological conditions for the Scottish operations in the quarter, with algae blooms contributing to gill damage, resulting in significant losses during lice treatment.

But positive operational EBIT was obtained in Canada despite the weak American market affecting salmon prices and increasing costs due to plankton blooms and low oxygen levels in the sea.

In the case of Chilean salmon, prices remained low and costs increased, especially in region XI.