Higher costs and issues in Scotland dent Lerøy's Q4 results
THE combined fishing and fish farming group Lerøy Seafood has announced lower operating profits for the final quarter of 2022.
However, revenues for the period were up from NOK 6,519m (£508m) in Q4 2021 to NOK 7,114m (£580m) this time.
Rising costs meant the operating profit, or EBIT, for Q4 2022 was NOK 800m (£65m) against NOK 902m (£73m) a year earlier.
Lerøy said that price inflation for almost all input factors over the past year had impacted on group costs.
Losses from associates and the joint venture, in which Norskott Havbruk/Scottish Sea Farms owns the majority stake, were NOK -113m (-£9.06m) in Q4 2022, compared with NOK -10m in Q4 2021 (-£08m). The quarterly report states:“It has been an extremely difficult quarter for Norskott Havbruk, with challenging biology."
The operation had an operating loss of NOK 122,312 (around £9,500) against NOK 10,709 (£870) in Q4 2021.
CEO Henning Beltestad said:“The seafood market in 2022 was very strong. At the same time, like other industries, we experienced pressure on costs.
“The other thing that has marked the year is the proposal for ground rent tax, where we are already seeing strong negative effects on investments along the coast of Norway in particular. This is very unfortunate for Norway as an aquaculture nation, and for the industry and everyone who works in it.”
The Lerøy report said a seasonal increase in harvest volume in Norway in the second half of 2022 meant lower prices for salmon and trout than in the first half. It went on: “This affected the group’s revenue for Q4, although the high harvest volume continued to generate good earnings for the Farming segment despite lower margins.
“As expected, lower whitefish quotas (cod, haddock and saithe) led to lower catch volumes and earnings compared with the same period in 2021.”