SalMar posts satisfactory results in the fourth quarter 2020 and recommends a dividend of NOK 20 per share

Highlights in the fourth quarter:

• Operational EBIT of NOK 413.8 million, EBIT per kg of NOK 9.50.
   
• Fish Farming Central Norway and Fish Farming Northern Norway post satisfactory results based on a good biological and operational performance.
   
• Low salmon prices and a challenging market affected the results for Sales & Processing.
   
• Positive cost development for Icelandic Salmon, with a significantly lower production costs for the fish harvested. However, a challenging market with low salmon prices resulted in an operating loss.
   
• Guiding for 2021 maintained at 163,000 tonnes in Norway and 14,000 tonnes in Iceland.
   
• The board of directors recommends a dividend of NOK 20 per share for the 2020 financial year.
   
• Strengthens strategic focus on offshore fish farming for sustainable growth on the salmon’s terms.

             
Satisfactory result despite a challenging market

SalMar is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and can look back on three decades of fantastic results. The company has grown to be one of the world’s largest aquaculture companies and has unwavering faith in its capacity for further growth. Despite a challenging market, with global uncertainty and low salmon prices, the company has completed yet another strong year.

In the fourth quarter 2020, SalMar ASA made an Operational EBIT of NOK 413.8 million. Operational EBIT for the year as a whole totalled NOK 3 billion. The company’s Norwegian operations posted an Operational EBIT of NOK 433.5 million in the fourth quarter and NOK 3,058 million in 2020 as a whole. This corresponds to an increase of 3 per cent on 2019.

- 2020 has been a challenging year, characterised by significant uncertainty for the aquaculture industry. This uncertainty was also evident in the fourth quarter. At the start of the year, few people would have dared to hope that we would post a 2020 operational result that was as good as the year before. Nevertheless, through a strategic and operational focus, as well as employees who have demonstrated a formidable ability to adapt to new working practices, we have done just that,” says SalMar’s CEO Gustav Witzøe.