FiiZK wins major closed-cage contract.
FiiZK, the closed-containment technology company partly owned by Nekkar, has secured a contract to deliver four Protectus closed aquaculture systems to an unnamed Norwegian customer.
The order was announced by Nekkar on Wednesday evening and is widely seen in the market as the contract Mowi indicated during its third-quarter results presentation last week, where FiiZK’s logo appeared in the slide deck alongside a plan to order four closed cages. The client has not been disclosed.
“With this award, supported by the recently introduced government incentives, the market for closed aquaculture systems, led by FiiZK, is entering a new maturity phase,” said FiiZK CEO Jan Erik Kvingedal in a statement.
Nekkar currently owns 39 percent of FiiZK and holds an option to acquire the remaining shares.
Danske Bank analyst Tomas Anderson Helgø, who last week said he expected an order from Mowi “right around the corner”, described the contract as broadly in line with expectations but still significant for the company.
In a note, Helgø estimated that FiiZK’s order backlog would increase by around NOK 320 million ($32 million), based on an assumed contract value of NOK 80 million per cage, and called the formal confirmation “positive” for the investment case.
Nekkar said it expects 24 Protectus installations to have been delivered by the end of the year, of which 14 are in active operation. According to the company, there have so far been no reported cases of sea lice or escapes in these units.
