Operating EBIT for the quarter amounted to €6.2 million (3.8 per cent margin), which was €7.3 million lower versus the same period last year.
The group's net interest bearing debt (NIBD) was €187.2 million at the end of Q4 2012 (€14.5 million increase compared to year end). The equity ratio was 39.7 per cent at quarter end compared to 38.8 per cent at the quarter end prior year.
Processing
Operating revenue in processing segment in Q4 2012 was €144.4 million compared to €129.1 million prior year. Higher operating revenue from sale of finished goods results from a significant increase in volumes.
Volumes
excluding contract processing were higher in comparison to Q4 2011 by 21.3 percent. There was a strong, double digit sales volume growth in almost all product categories.
Operating EBIT for processing in Q4 2012 was €3.3 million vs. €19.2 million in the previous year.
The operating EBIT margin in Q3 2012 decreased to 2.3 per cent compared to 14.8 per cent prior year.
The deteriorated profitability was primarily caused by an increase of salmon raw material price, higher marketing expenses resulting from sales volume increase, write-down of cobia and pompano inventories in the amount of
€3.6 million and the additional write-down of trade receivables in the amount of €0.9 million.
Salmon farming
Operating revenue in salmon farming in Q4 2012 was €41.2 million and was higher by €4.5 million in comparison to Q4 2011, despite lower volumes sold. Decrease of volumes sold by 7.0 per cent was outweighted by
a sales price increase. Market prices for salmon increased in Q4 2012 with an average NOS price from Norway at approximately NOK 26/kg (15.4 per cent increase in comparison to Q4 2011), up by approximately NOK 1/kg from Q3 2012. The prices peaked above NOK 30/kg in the high volume weeks immediately before Christmas.
Salmon farming operating EBIT for the quarter amounted to €5.1 million and was €8.0 higher than in the same period last year (result in Q4 2011 included a write-down of biomass in UK in the amount of EUR 4.9 million).
Operating EBIT margin amounted to 12.4 per cent in Q4 2012 (Q4 2011: 7.8 per cent negative).
The farming operation in the UK - Meridian Salmon Group - generated an operating EBIT of €3.1 million. Sales volume in the quarter was 5,201 metric tonnes gutted fish equivalent returning an EBIT/kg of €0.6/kg.
The Norwegian farming operation - Jkelfjord Laks - generated an operating EBIT of €2.0 million, returning an EBIT/kg of €0.7.
"Morpol is very well placed for future profitable growth," CEO Jerzy Malek said. "Although the market will be challenging during 2013, the eventual integration with Marine Harvest will bring additional knowledge and competence to the group and should result in further efficiency improvements in Morpol."
