Grieg Seafood ASA

Q4 2023 results - Seite 2

“Our results in the fourth quarter were impacted by continued weak biological performance in Finnmark. The Spiro parasite, winter ulcers and jellyfish have impacted survival rates and operational efficiency in Finnmark and led to reduced volumes, increased handling cost and lower price achievement. I am not satisfied with the results, and we have taken measures to address the challenges both in the short and medium term.

The Spiro alone is estimated to cause a total loss of NOK 900 million since it was detected in 2022 at our freshwater facility in Finnmark, most of which has previously been realized. We have implemented measures to prevent Spiro from entering our facility again with good results. All fish that was transferred to the ocean farms in 2023 were Spiro free, and we expect impact from Spiro to cease after we have harvested out the last fish groups from the 2022 generation during Q2.

In Newfoundland, we successfully conducted the first harvest with a volume of 3,184 tonnes, a superior share of 97% and favorable reception from the North American market. The seawater production in Newfoundland continues to be strong with a 12-month survival rate of 95%.

It has been a tough quarter, and my colleagues have worked hard in all regions to implement improvement measures and move forward. I want to thank them all for their efforts. I am confident that we are on the right path and that we will see results during 2024” says CEO Andreas Kvame in Grieg Seafood.

Outlook
The global harvest of Atlantic salmon in 2024 is expected to increase by 2%, to a total of 2.9 million tonnes. With limited supply growth, combined with continuing strong demand development, Grieg Seafood believes in sustained strong market prices in 2024.

Grieg Seafood generally targets an annual contract share of 20-50%. Estimated contract share for the Norwegian operations is 7% for Q1 2024 and 6% for the full year 2024.

In the first quarter of 2024, expected harvest volume is 17,800 tonnes, allocated as follows:

• Rogaland: 7,000 tonnes
• Finnmark: 5,000 tonnes
• BC: 800 tonnes
• NL: 5,000 tonnes

 The company guides for a harvest volume of 81,000 tonnes in 2024, allocated as follows:

• Rogaland: 28,000 tonnes
• Finnmark: 27,000 tonnes
• BC: 15,000 tonnes
• NL: 11,000 tonnes

Results presentation
Chief Executive Officer, Andreas Kvame and Renete Kaarvik, the Global Finance Officer, who will be standing in for the Chief Financial Officer during his planned sick leave, will present the results at Hotel Continental, Stortingsgaten 24/26, Oslo today at 8:00 a.m. CET.