"I am impressed with the way the organisation was once again able to produce both record volumes and record revenues in 2024," said Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim.
Photo: Mowi.
Revenues, harvest volume, consumer products, feed... Mowi closed 2024 with record on record. In its Q4 2024 results presentation, the world's largest aquaculture company reported that, last year, its earnings reached EUR 5,620 million (USD 5,832 million) with 502,000 tons of salmon harvested. It has never had higher revenues or harvest volumes.
They did not stop there. In addition to the annuals, Mowi also broke records for the fourth quarter. A harvest volume of 134,000 tons in Q4 also set a seasonal record. Thus, the Norwegian salmon giant generated record operating revenues of EUR 1,500 million (USD 1,556 million) for the period, which translated into an operating profit of EUR 226 million (USD 234 million).
"I am extremely pleased that we have continued to deliver on our strategy and our goals, and I am impressed with the way the organisation was once again able to produce both record volumes and record revenues in 2024," said Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim.
"Our margins show that we were once again competitive on cost in 2024, which is vitally important in salmon farming. Falling feed prices have also contributed to somewhat reduced costs, and we expect that trend to continue in 2025," he continued.
At the end of the year, Q1 2024, when Mowi's profits plunged after a "perfect storm" of biological problems in Norway, is a long way off. A robust Q2, in which its CEO already pointed out the company's ambition to "grow faster" than the rest, corrected that trend, which was definitely on the rise with the "all-time high" harvest volumes reported in Q3.
As said, Q4 set new records for revenues and volumes harvested, but the last quarter of last year was also strong for the company's seawater production, a trend that has continued so far in 2025.
"We have seen a significant improvement this winter compared with last year, in terms of much better growth in sea, higher survival rates, better feed conversion rates and improved quality. This bodes well for the rest of the year and has prompted us to adjust our volume guidance for 2025 upwards, from 520,000 tonnes to 530,000 tonnes," Ivan Vindheim said.
As explained at its Capital Markets Day in September, together with cost reduction, volume growth along the value chain is a key strategic pillar for Mowi and, according to statements by its CEO, the Norwegian company has no plans to halt its expansion.
"We will continue to invest in the whole value chain and have a number of growth initiatives underway. Perhaps the most important of these is our post-smolt strategy, which is now starting to show results. We expect larger, more robust smolt to have a significant impact to our biological performance, including on fish welfare," Vindheim said.
As part of this volume growth and investment across the value chain strategy, Mowi signed an agreement with Vigner Olaisen AS at the end of January to acquire its shares in Nova Sea. The transaction, valued at EUR 625 million (USD 648 million), saw Mowi increase its stake in Nova Sea from 49% to 95%.
Until then a family-owned company, Nova Sea is a leading producer of salmon in the Northern Norwegian production area 8, and is present throughout the entire value chain, from farming and smolt production to harvesting and sales.
"Nova Sea is a frontrunner in the Norwegian aquaculture industry and is known for its excellent biological performance and industry-leading margins," Mowi CEO said in the stock exchange announcement of the acquisition.
Already part of Mowi, during the presentation of Q4 2024 results it was said that the company is expected to harvest 52,000 tons of salmon in 2025, thus adding its volumes to those of the group, thus following the strategy set by the company by 2029.
"With Nova Sea on board, we expect our volumes to reach 600,000 tonnes next year, and we will be well on our way to harvesting 400,000 tonnes in Norway alone. Mowi was harvesting 375,000 tonnes globally as recently as 2018, so our volumes will have grown by 225,000 tonnes in just a few years. This corresponds to annual growth of 6.1% compared with 3.1% for the wider industry," Vindheim stated.
As mentioned, Q4 and the whole of 2024 were not only record-breaking in the farming division. Mowi Consumer Products, the group's value-added products division, also had a strong quarter and year, with a record operating profit of EUR 53 million (USD 55 million) in the fourth quarter and EUR 146 million (USD 151 million) for the year.
Not only that, the Norwegian salmon giant's Consumer Products division also set a new volume record, producing 247,000 tons for the year, a 6.5% increase over 2023.
"We are seeing good retail demand for our products and continue to develop new and innovative high-quality products to keep up with new trends and consumers' ever-changing needs," Vindheim commented.
Likewise, Mowi's feed division also had a strong Q4 2024, in which, like the farming and consumer products divisions, it achieved record volumes and revenues. Mowi Feed's full year was also a record, with an operating profit of EUR 62 million (USD 64 million) on 585,000 tons of feed.
"Our feed division has seen substantial growth in recent years, most recently growing by 12% in 2024 compared with the previous year. With Nova Sea on board we will need additional feed capacity in Norway in order to continue to grow, therefore we are undertaking a 60,000-tonne expansion project at our feed plant at Bjugn, Norway, with expected completion in the second quarter of 2026," Mowi's CEO unveiled.
Finally, Mowi also noted that during Q4 2024 it was again ranked as the most sustainable listed animal protein producer by the Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index. This is the world's most detailed sustainability assessment of meat, dairy, and farmed fish producers in the world, and the Norwegian company topped it for the 6th year in a row.
