Grieg Seafood ASA: Trading Update Q1 2020
The Grieg Seafood Group harvested a total of 18 362 tonnes gutted weight equivalent (GWT) in Q1 2020, some 1 500 tonnes above the Company’s Q1 harvest guidance of 16 800 GWT communicated in connection with the release of the Q4 2019 results on 13 February 2020.
We have had more biological challenges than usual in the Finnmark region during the quarter. As communicated in the Q4 2019 report, Finnmark experienced unusual prevalence of winter-ulcers on fish in one of our production areas, reducing fish welfare and harvest quality. This situation persisted throughout the first quarter, resulting in significant downgrades which impacted achieved prices negatively. While the situation is temporary, we are working systematically to identify why this incident has occurred and will put in place measures to avoid future occurrences.
In addition, a large portion of the harvest came from one site infected by infectious salmon anemia (ISA). Direct costs related to ISA handling and lower average weight from accelerated harvesting, increased cost per kilo and further reduced achieved prices.
Combined, these issues resulted in significant earnings decrease for Grieg Seafood Finnmark, reporting an EBIT/kg of NOK 4.56 in Q1 2020, compared to EBIT/kg of NOK 25.01/kg in Q1 2019.
Operations in the other regions were in line with expectations during the quarter and according to plan.
Harvest volume, volume guiding and preliminary EBIT/kg:
| Region | Harvest volume (GWT) | Guiding (GWT) | EBIT/kg (NOK) |
| GSF Rogaland | 6,944 | 6,000 | 24.50 |
| GSF Finnmark | 6,827 | 7,000 | 4.56 |
| GSF BC | 2,543 | 2,100 | 16.00 |
| GSF Shetland | 2,047 | 1,700 | 4.97 |
These numbers are preliminary, and we will report final figures in our Q1 2020 report. It will be released on 7 May at 06:00 CEST, where we will provide a full update on status and outlook.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Andreas Kvame, CEO
Atle Harald Sandtorv, CFO
252
For media enquiries, please contact:
Kristina Furnes, Global Communications Manager
About Grieg Seafood:
Grieg Seafood ASA is one of the world's leading salmon farmers, specializing in Atlantic salmon. The Group has a production target of 100 000 tonnes gutted weight in 2020. Our farming facilities are in Finnmark and Rogaland in Norway, British Columbia in Canada and Shetland in the UK. 861 people are employed by the Group at year end 2019.
Grieg Seafood ASA was listed at the Oslo Stock Exchange in June 2007. Our headquarters are situated in Bergen, Norway. The business development of Grieg Seafood ASA focuses on profitable growth, sustainable use of the ocean and being the preferred supplier to selected customers. To learn more, please visit
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
