Marine Harvest beats Q1 output forecast

Marine Harvest on Thursday (April 15) released its first-quarter production results, including a 12,000-tonne drop in Chilean output.

The Norwegian company harvested 73,000 tonnes of farmed salmon worldwide in the first quarter of 2010, down 3,000 tonnes from the same period in 2009 but up 7,000 tonnes from the pre-quarter forecast.

Norwegian output totalled 50,000 tonnes in the first quarter, up 8,000 tonnes from 2008, while Chilean production came to only 1,000 tonnes, as the country continues to recover from the infectious salmon anemia outbreak.

Canadian output reached 11,000 tonnes in the first quarter of this year, the same as in 2009, while Scottish production totaled 7,000 tonnes, down 1,000 tonnes from last year.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, Marine Harvest produced a total of 87,000 tonnes of farmed salmon, down 3,000 tonnes from the same period in 2008 but up 5,000 tonnes from the third-quarter forecast.

Additionally, Marine Harvest Norway posted a per-kilogramme operational EBIT of approximately NOK8.50 in the first quarter of 2010, compared to NOK2.75 in the same period in 2009.

The company will release its first-quarter financial results on May 5.