March 2, 2007

Disappointing numbers from Marine Harvest

Costs of integrating the recently merged companies has affected Marine Harvest Group's ability to match its Q4 figures from the year before.

The salmon group had a pre-tax result of NOK 309 million (USD 50.4 million) in Q4 2006, compared to NOK 347.5 million (USD 56.67 million) in the same period of 2005, financial daily Dagens Næringsliv reported.

However, the former Pan Fish also had strong turnover growth in Q4 2005.

CEO Atle Eide in the company's quarterly report he is satisfied with the results given that 2006 was a challenging year. Part of the reason was due to the significant resources devoted to the merger process. He said the solid results were proof that the company has maintained operational focus.

The results do not include the company Marine Harvest NV which was taken over at the end of 2006.