Mowi's volume growth strategy also extends to value-added business.
Photo: Mowi.
Mowi today presented its Q1 2025 results report, which, as it had announced in a trading update published in April, has recorded an improvement compared to the same quarter last year. Thanks to a solid biological and operational performance, together with higher volumes and cost reductions, the salmon company reported an increase in revenues and results that confirms that its volume growth strategy is paying off.
Specifically, Mowi generated operating revenues of EUR 1.36 billion in the first quarter, which translated into an operating profit of EUR 214 million. Following the good results, Mowi's Board of Directors has decided to pay a quarterly dividend of NOK 1.70 per share.
"So far, 2025 has been a very good year operationally and biologically which has resulted in high harvest volumes combined with seasonally record-high biomass in sea," said Mowi CEO, Ivan Vindheim.
From harvest to value-added business, volume growth along the entire value chain is one of Mowi's strategic pillars, as the company announced at its Capital Markets Day last September, when it presented its plans for continued volume growth of 20% in its farming division, from 500,000 tons to 600,000 tons.
In Q1 2025, the Norwegian salmon giant has taken a step forward in that strategy. Mowi harvested 108,000 tons, representing a 12% growth compared to the same period last year. The company thus maintains its 2025 harvest volume forecast at 530,000 tons, equivalent to an annual growth of 6%.
This forecast is supported by a record biomass at sea for the season, with a year-on-year growth of 11%. Also taking into account the recent agreement to increase its stake in Nova Sea from 49% to 95%, Mowi expects to harvest 600,000 tons next year.
"Seawater production went very well in the first quarter, with improved growth, survival rates, feed conversion ratio and superior share," Vindheim commented on the results achieved in the first quarter.
To put into context what this growth means, the salmon company explained that as recently as 2018, its harvest volumes were 375,000 tons, so if forecasts are met, by the end of 2025 Mowi will have increased them by 155,000 tons, which equates to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1%, versus a projected industry CAGR of 3.3%.
Likewise, the company noted that this growth is primarily organic, and Mowi still has more organic growth initiatives that are expected to contribute to additional volume growth.
As mentioned above, Mowi's volume growth strategy also extends to value-added business, and Mowi Consumer Products had another solid quarter too, thanks to good operating performance and high volumes, driven in part by the Easter/Lenten season.
Results improved in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and were positively influenced by an increase in world market demand. In the U.S., volumes continued to grow mainly in the retail channel, and in Europe, the fresh segment performed particularly well.
The company noted that it was precisely the fresh pre-packed category that continued to drive volume growth, reflecting a broader market shift to higher-value product categories.
"Demand for salmon was good in the quarter and downstream earnings improved in Europe, Americas and Asia. At the same time, however, high supply growth put pressure on market prices," Mowi's CEO, Ivan Vindheim, said.
Specifically, global supply growth in the first quarter was up 13% in Europe and 8% globally, an effect that, the salmon company noted, should be seen as a one-off correction after three years of biological challenges. Mowi expects supply growth to be 6% in 2025, before returning to a growth trend of around 2-3% thereafter, due to regulatory constraints.
Like the farming and value-added products segments, Mowi Feed also had a solid start to the year with record earnings and sales volumes for a first quarter, adding to the company's overall trend.
"Mowi's own feed continues to perform very well, constituting a crucially important contributing factor to our harvest volume growth of recent years," Vindheim stated. Despite this, in March Mowi announced that the company had initiated a strategic review of the feed division.
"The time is ripe to assess how our Feed division will be organised in the future," Mowi's CEO said then, announcing a strategic review to assess "all available options, including a sale."
As the company informs in its Q1 2025 results report, last year, the Feed division generated an operating EBITDA of EUR 62 million. Its main assets include feed mills in Norway and Scotland with a production capacity of 460,000 tons and 240,000 tons, respectively, i.e., a combined capacity of 700,000 tons. These plants supplied almost all the feed requirements of Mowi's European salmon farms last year.
In just a few years, the company has grown from a producer of 400,000 tons to close to 600,000 tons, with production in seven countries and 11 farming regions, as well as an extensive distribution business in 26 countries.
"Therefore, the time is right to assess the optimal organisation of this division," the company concluded in its assessment of events during and after the quarter-end included in the Q1 2025 report.