"Q3 was a challenging quarter for Måsøval," said the Group CEO, Helge Kvalvik, who added that overall, the quarter provided valuable insights that further strengthened their approach.
Photo: Måsøval.
Måsøval announced its Q3 2024 results today reporting a negative operational EBIT amounting to NOK -61 million (EUR -5.2 million / USD -5.5 million). Although the Group's revenue was NOK 530 million (EUR 45.4 million / USD 47.9 million), various biological problems led to an underweight salmon harvest resulting in high costs and low prices. This, coupled with the start-up costs at the new harvesting facility TL52 at Hitra, has led to this final result.
The result presented by Måsøval did not, however, come as a surprise. On October 31, the company - which had already announced its trading update for Q3 2024 earlier that month - issued a third-quarter earnings warning in which it informed its shareholders and potential investors that, according to a preliminary assessment, its operating EBIT in the third quarter would be NOK -62 million (EUR -5.2 million / USD -5.6 million). Finally, it has been about one million less, which, when translated into foreign currency, is unchanged.
"Q3 was a challenging quarter for Måsøval," said the Group CEO, Helge Kvalvik, commenting on the quarter results. "Higher sea temperatures than seasonal normal in our region resulted in high sea lice pressure, which hampered growth and elevated our delousing costs. Moreover, we experienced ISA on two sites in the quarter. Harvesting salmon with low weight, resulted in high cost and low prices."
"In the Sales & Processing segment we also reported a negative operational result, primarily driven by start-up costs at the harvesting facility TL52 at Hitra," Kvalvik continued. In May this year, Måsøval completed the acquisition of the former Mowi harvesting facility in Ulvan in Hitra Municipality, a strategic move to bolster harvesting operations and enhance harvesting capacity within the Måsøval Group.
Regarding the farming segment, the volume harvested in Q3 2024 was 7,095 tonnes of gutted weight equivalents (GWE), slightly above the 7,037 tonnes GWE in the same period of the previous year. In the Central Region, operating EBIT/kg was NOK -3 (EUR -0.25 / USD -0.27) - in Q3 2023 it had been NOK 27 (EUR 2.31 / USD 2.44) -. In the Western Region, on the other hand, operating EBIT/kg was NOK 7 (EUR 0.60 / USD 0.63) - in Q3 2023 it had been NOK 9 (EUR 0.77 / USD 0.81) -.
Despite the generally poor results, in his comments on the third quarter results, Måsøval Group's CEO was keen to highlight the positive side. "Although it was a challenging quarter, it's important to highlight the continuing positive trend in Region West, with improved biological performance yielding lower costs, higher superior shares, and increased harvest weights," he said. "Overall, the quarter provided valuable insights that further strengthened our approach."
Looking ahead, Måsøval maintains its harvest guiding of 24,700-25,700 GWT for the full year 2024 that it already announced in the October 31 investor advisory. That figure was down from the August forecast of 26,500-27,500 GWT which, in turn, had already lowered the initial estimate of 27,000-28,000 GWT. By 2025, the Group guides increased activity level with a full-year harvest of 29,000-31,000 GWT.