The company’s Irish operations harvested 1,457 tonnes of organic salmon at an operational EBIT per kg of an all-time high of €1.48 per kg.
According to Marine Harvest Group’s Q1 report, the strong performance was explained by improved market conditions for organic salmon, reduced costs – which were down by 11 percent compared to Q1 2017 – and one-offs related to ova sales.
“It is very satisfactory that our organic farming operations in Marine Harvest Ireland have achieved record high first quarter results on strong demand and reduced costs,” says the group’s CEO, Alf-Helge Aarskog.
Looking elsewhere the company’s Norwegian operations achieved an operational EBIT per kilo of €2.26 (€2.52) in the first quarter, while salmon of Scottish and Canadian origin reported operational EBIT per kilo of €1.85 and €1.10 respectively (€3.12 and €3.42). Salmon of Chilean origin reported operational EBIT per kilo of €1.36 in the quarter (€1.87).
“The demand for salmon has increased globally this year, compared to the end of 2017. This has led to high prices and a good result for Marine Harvest in the first quarter,” added Aarskog.
Total harvest volume was 81,212 tonnes in the quarter (83,768 tonnes). Estimated harvest volumes for the full year have been reduced from 410,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes due to lower growth rates at sea.
