September 22, 2022

Andfjord Salmon reports positive second quarter

Andfjord Salmon has announced an extremely eventful second quarter of this year, including the first smolt release and a significant improvement in the balance sheet of the business, Fish Information & Services reported.

Martin Rasmussen, CEO of Andfjord Salmon, said they have succeeded in recreating the natural habitat of the Atlantic salmon on land without using any artificial water treatment techniques because they are situated where it lives.

He expressed his satisfaction with the biological conditions in the pool and his belief that the high survival rate of currently 99.4% is evidence of this.

In its first land-based pool at Kvalnes  region of Nordland, Andfjord Salmon released about 200,000 smolt on June 25, 2022, with an average weight of 120g. The fish is doing well because it has a good appetite and is developing as expected. As of September 15, the weight had amounted to 402g on average.

With a target production volume of 19,000 tonnes HOG, Andfjord Salmon is authorised to produce 10,000 tonnes of MAB salmon at Kvalnes.

The development of a land-based fish farming facility at Breivik, Andya, where Andfjord Salmon intends to develop and build one with a production volume of 25,000 tonnes HOG, received approval for its zoning plan application from Andfjord Salmon in June from the Andy municipality council.

Rasmussen said Kvalnes is their main priority, but they will keep working to get the permits they need to develop in the areas of Breivik and Fiskenes.

International food industry company Jerónimo Martins, with headquarters in Portugal, decided to invest NOK 173.9 million (~US$16.9 million; NOK 1 = US$0.097) in Andfjord Salmon through a directed private placement in June. During the second quarter, Andfjord Salmon also obtained a NOK 50 million (~US$4.8 million) bank loan.

The business does not yet make money. After the first harvest in 2023, it will start to generate operating income. In the second quarter of this year, the company's operating loss was NOK 8.4 million (~US$817,000) as opposed to NOK 6.9 million (~US$671,000) in the corresponding quarter last year. The primary reason for the change is the stepping up of operations in anticipation of the release of the first smolt.

-      Fish Information & Services