Salmon farmer Mowi ASA recorded best-ever fourth-quarter revenues of €1.36 billion for the closing three months of 2022. The Bergen, Norway-headquartered company’s operational Q4 profit was €239 million, compared with €146 million in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
The fourth-quarter cemented a record financial year, Mowi said. For the first time in its near 60-year history, the company crossed the €1 billion earnings mark with its operational profit for the full year reaching €1.005 billion. Its revenue in excess of €4.9 billion euros was also a new record for the company.
“I would like to express my enormous appreciation to all of my 11,500 colleagues in the organisation without whose dedication and hard work these milestone results would not have been possible,” said Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim.
Mowi harvested 131,000 tonnes in the quarter and a total of 464,000 tonnes in 2022, which was 4,000 tonnes more than guided one year ago.
In Norway, harvest volumes reached a record-high level of 294,000 tonnes.
“I am pleased to see the tremendous progress we have made in Norway in recent years. An abundance of consistent hard work has propelled Mowi towards the top when it comes to license utilisation and production efficiency in this country,” Vindheim said.
However, he also warned that the Norwegian government’s proposal for an effective tax level of 62% for the salmon farming industry, or approximately 80% with Norwegian wealth tax, will “completely undermine future growth prospects for coastal Norway’s most critical industry”.
He said: “This industry currently employs 60,000 people in coastal communities, and at the end of the day it is their livelihoods as well as future job creation that are being put in peril. Consequently, I sincerely hope that government and parliament will listen to the industry and wider coastal communities and choose a different tax rate and a tax model that is less devastating to the Norwegian aquaculture industry so that we can continue to invest in coastal Norway in the future.”
Meanwhile, Mowi’s harvest volume guidance of 484,000 tonnes for 2023 represents an all-time high level and includes volumes from Mowi’s newest subsidiary, Arctic Fish in Iceland. This will equate to volume growth of as much as 109,000 tonnes in five years.
“It was with great pleasure that we received approval for the acquisition of 51% of the shares in Icelandic salmon farmer, Arctic Fish, just before year end. Iceland is Mowi’s seventh farming country and was the last spot missing from our geographical footprint. We are looking forward to further developing the company together with the other owners and a highly competent and motivated organisation,” Vindheim said.
Mowi Consumer Products had another strong quarter and 2022, setting both operational and financial records on good consumer demand and impressive operational performance.
“Annual operational profit of €112 million and volumes of 229,000 tonnes product weight are extremely impressive results. Mowi will further enhance our value proposition downstream in the years to come and our branding strategy, with its ultimate goal of de-commoditising the salmon category, plays a key part in this context,” Vindheim said.
Mowi Feed also saw its best quarter and best year so far with an operational profit of €21 million and €47 million euros respectively.
“Feed performance was very strong throughout 2022, which is of paramount importance to Mowi as the world’s largest salmon farmer. Feed production reached 515,000 tonnes for the year, an increase of 7% from 2021, and this is expected to grow further in 2023,” Vindheim said.
