Proximar warns of first quarter impact from earlier "operational challenges"

Proximar Seafood has reported a mixed start to 2026, with biological improvements seen in most of its production but lower harvest weights in the first quarter linked to what the company's CEO described as "earlier operational challenges".

In a production update issued on Monday, Proximar said it continues to expect total harvest volumes of 3,500 to 4,000 tonnes gutted weight for the full year, with recent biological performance “supporting expectations for increasing harvest weights and a solid full year outlook.”

“We are encouraged by the performance we are seeing, and the improvements we have made are clearly showing positive effects on growth,” said Proximar CEO Joachim Nielsen. He noted that harvests in January and February would still reflect the impact of earlier issues, but added that the company expects “predictable and robust production moving forward”.

The weaker start to the year follows biofilter incidents reported last year, which led Proximar in April 2025 to combine four fish cohorts into a single batch rather than remove fish entirely. Harvests from this batch in January showed that some fish had grown less than expected, resulting in a wide size distribution and lower average weights. As a result, the company says it has brought forward harvesting of this batch to free up capacity for later cohorts, which it says are showing much better biological performance.

The negative impact is expected to be felt mainly in January and February, with Proximar now forecasting an average harvest weight of around 2.4 kg gutted weight in the first quarter. From April to December, the company says it expects average harvest weight to rise to between 3.5 kg and 3.8 kg, which Proximar says should translate into higher prices.

However, the lower harvest weights in the first quarter are expected to reduce prices in the meantime -- and affect short-term cash flow.

Proximar said it is in discussions with banks to secure additional credit lines to cover near-term liquidity needs and to address the refinancing of a short-term loan. The company has also requested a waiver from its syndicate banks for a covenant linked to average two-month sales from January 2026, stating that it is receiving strong support from its lenders.

Proximar also indicated it expects to receive insurance payments in the first quarter related to last year's biofilter incidents. While coverage has been confirmed, the company said the final insurance settlement has not yet been concluded and the payout amount thus remains uncertain.

The company already announced in December that it had secured an extension and increase of its loan agreement with JA Mitsui Leasing. The existing JPY 750 million loan (approx. NOK 50m / USD 5.2m), previously due on 30 December 2025, has been extended for a further year as well as being doubled to JPY 1.5 billion.

In October 2025, Proximar also announced it had raised NOK 150 million in a fully subscribed rights issue.

In its latest update, the company also included an update on its operations, noting it has expanded the use of camera systems and artificial intelligence since December to improve monitoring of biomass and size distribution.

Based on AI-enabled surveillance of tanks holding fish above 1 kg, Proximar has adjusted its estimated biomass down by about 2%, excluding the mixed batch mentioned earlier. Following this adjustment, standing biomass at the beginning of February was around 2,000 tonnes, with the company having harvested 185 tonnes gutted weight in January.

Proximar is due to publish its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2025 on 27 February.