Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim reveals strategy to reverse falling profits.
The world’s largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon, Mowi, has reported revenues of €1.33 billion for the first quarter of 2024.
The figure is slightly lower than the €1.36 billion recorded in the same period of 2023, a drop of just over 2 percent.
Operational EBIT stood at €201 million for the quarter, representing a 38% drop on the same quarter last year.
Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim acknowledged the difficulties the company has been facing.
“The first quarter was challenging for Mowi in Norway due to winter sores and an unusually high prevalence of string jellyfish, in addition to a very cold winter,” he said, noting that environmental conditions for the second quarter were looking more positive.
The company taking steps to make sure the same problems don’t occur next winter.
‘Production fish’ made up almost half of Mowi’s harvest volume for first week of April
“We are now vaccinating our smolt with an improved winter sore vaccine which has shown promising results so far, and we believe that this, together with other measures we are taking, will lead to a significantly improved situation next year,” said Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim.
Mowi has focused on releasing larger smolt to sea since 2021, with CEO Vindheim expecting this strategy to drive further growth and improved biological performance in the coming years.
“By the end of 2024 Mowi will have capacity to produce almost 40 million postsmolt, equivalent to a share of approximately 25% of the group’s total smolt. In Norway, Mowi’s postsmolt share will be approximately 50%, when excluding Region North from the equation for natural reasons. This is expected to drive license utilisation higher and at the same time contribute to improved fish welfare and survival rates,” said Vindheim.
Outside of Norway
Outside Norway, Mowi saw strong biological performance in its other farming countries during the quarter, including Scotland and Chile.
“It is comforting to see biological improvements in Scotland compared with last year, and that our Chilean operation has coped well during the El Niño period. Mowi’s other farming regions abroad have also achieved good biological results in the quarter,” Vindheim said.
The company anticipates reduced production costs in the second half of the year due to improved biology, falling feed prices, and scale effects.
Mowi harvested 96,500 tons of salmon in the first quarter, leaving a seasonally record-high biomass at quarter-end. The company reaffirmed its group volume guidance of a record-high 500,000 tons for 2024, representing a significant increase from the previous year.
The company’s Board has decided to pay a quarterly dividend of NOK 1.50 per share.
