April 13, 2011
Pescanova halts development of turbot plant in Portugal
Pescanova will stop the enlargement of a turbot production plant in Mira, Portugal, for at least a year.
The company argued that the paralysation of investments took place because there is already a large turbot production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year.
They also believe that within a year, they will be able to put these turbot on the market which were reared in 1,800 ponds at the plant as it is necessary for the fish to reach between one and two kilogrammes of weight for marketing.
Despite the delicate economic situation in Portugal, Pescanova executives said that investments at the Mira plant will not be affected.
The items produced at this farm will be sold mainly in Spain, Italy and France.
Pescanova also put on hold the construction of a plant for breeding and fattening tilapia in Mozambique, according to the media.
The company said that the suspension is due to their inability to find a suitable place to locate it.
With regards to the crisis in Japan after the earthquake on March 11 and the problems of radioactivity in the water and fishery resources, the Director of Investor Relations, JoaquÃn Viña, stressed that this country is a major consumer of fish and it will remain so.
The Japanese market represents only 3% of all sales by Pescanova, so a drop in transactions may not significantly affect the multinational's accounts.
For its part, the shareholders approved the results of fiscal year 2010, as Pescanova achieved sales of EUR1.56 million (US$2.26 million), which is 6.2% more than the previous year.
The EBITDA was EUR163.3 million (US$236.5 million), representing an increase of 9% over 2009.
In addition, from 2004 to 2010, the compound annual growth rate of Pescanova was 9% in sales, from 16.6% in EBITDA and an EBIT of 17.75%.
