August 5, 2003

Nutreco's CFO Expect Difficult Market Conditions For Salmon To Continue In Second Half Of 2003

Nutreco's Chief Financial Officer Wout Dekker said at a press conference Tuesday that he expects the salmon market to remain difficult in the second half of the year.

The Dutch fish and animal production company has been struggling with continued low European salmon prices. Nutreco reported Tuesday that it swung to a record net loss of EUR186.3 million in the first six months of this year.

Dekker wouldn't give any specific forecasts regarding developments in the price of salmon for the second half of the year.

The CFO added, however, that salmon prices can't remain at record lows. "At these prices everyone is making a loss," he said.

According to Dekker, salmon prices have hit record lows due to price dumping by Norwegian companies, which have found themselves increasingly in financial trouble in the last six months.