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Oostowal, with a current market capitalization of $185.27 million, reported a significant 17% year-over-year increase in total revenue for Q2 2025, reaching 10.1 billion Norwegian kroner. The company also achieved an EBITDA of 1.3 billion kroner and a net profit of 106 million kroner. According to InvestingPro analysis, the company maintains a "GREAT" financial health score of 3.22, suggesting robust operational efficiency. Despite challenges such as falling prices in salmon, trout, fish meal, and fish oil, Oostowal’s strategic investments and operational efficiencies contributed to this growth.
Key Takeaways
- Revenue increased by 17% year-over-year, totaling 10.1 billion kroner.
- Salmon slaughtered volume rose by 57%, reflecting improved biological performance.
- The company is focusing on shielding technology investments and fleet expansion.
- Global salmon supply is projected to increase by 9% in 2025.
- Oostowal maintains a strong balance sheet with a 52% equity ratio.
Company Performance
Oostowal’s Q2 2025 performance highlights a robust growth trajectory, driven by strategic investments in technology and fleet expansion. The company reported a 57% increase in salmon slaughtered volumes, significantly enhancing its operational efficiency. Despite price challenges in key product areas, Oostowal’s focus on cost reduction and improved biological performance has bolstered its competitive edge in the seafood industry.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue: 10.1 billion kroner, up 17% year-over-year
- EBITDA: 1.3 billion kroner
- Net Profit: 106 million kroner
- Earnings per share: 0.3 kroner (adjusted EPS 1.3 kroner)
- Total Assets: 52 billion kroner
- Equity Ratio: 52%
- Net Interest-Bearing Debt: 9.1 billion kroner
Outlook & Guidance
Looking ahead, Oostowal anticipates a flat salmon supply from August to December and limited growth in 2026 due to MAB regulations. The company is optimistic about potential price improvements and expects its contract share to decrease from 30% in Q2 to 25% by year-end. InvestingPro data shows the stock trading within 1% of its 52-week high of $12.31, with a positive 2.75% year-to-date return. For deeper insights into Oostowal’s valuation and growth prospects, subscribers can access the comprehensive Pro Research Report, featuring expert analysis and key performance indicators. These projections reflect Oostowal’s strategic focus on navigating regulatory challenges while capitalizing on market opportunities.
Executive Commentary
Arne, an executive at Oostowal, highlighted the current market pressure, stating, "Spot prices now is below production cost," emphasizing the challenges faced in maintaining profitability. CFO Britt Katrina Dreyvenes reassured stakeholders, noting, "We have a very strong balance sheet," underscoring the company’s financial resilience.
Risks and Challenges
- Falling prices in key products such as salmon and fish oil could impact profit margins.
- Regulatory constraints, including MAB regulations, may limit growth potential in 2026.
- Oceanographic conditions and new fishing laws in Chile present operational challenges.
- The Peruvian fishing season’s challenges could affect supply chains and costs.
- Fluctuating global demand, particularly in the US and Asian markets, may influence revenue stability.
Q&A
During the earnings call, analysts raised concerns about the Peruvian fishing season’s challenges and the impact of oceanographic conditions on Oostowal’s operations. Executives also addressed the effects of new fishing laws in Chile, providing insights into the company’s strategies for mitigating these risks and capitalizing on market opportunities.
Full transcript - Austevoll Seafood ASA (AUSS) Q2 2025:
Arne, Primary Speaker/Executive, Oostowal: Then it’s a pleasure for me to welcome you to Oostowal’s second quarter presentation. I would first start taking you through the highlights of the quarter. Thereafter, I would go through segment by segments and our performance in the quarter and try to give some insights in the quarter we are into now. Britt Katrina Dreyvenes, our CFO, will take you through more in detail the numbers for second quarter and I will end this session by giving our view on the different segments we are operating within. So starting up, I would say we are quite satisfied with the volumes we have pushed through, I would say, all our different subsidiaries in the quarter.
But again, we have been harmed by falling prices both on salmon and trout and on fish meal and fish oil this quarter versus same quarter last year, which has been putting pressure on margins. So we are delivering a weaker financial resort result in this quarter versus the same quarter last year, and I will take you more in detail when I’m going through the different segments. So all in all, revenue of 10,000,000,000, EBITDA of NOK 1,300,000,000.0, and EBIT of NOK $754,000,000. Last year, we had a gain of sales of two fishing vessels, a 1,200,000,000.0. So comparing this quarter with last quarter is is you have to take that into the consideration.
Going down on the bottom left on the table, we have excluded the gain of sales and included the 50% share of Pelagia numbers. And you can see we have an EBITDA of 1,300,000,000.0, where salmon and white fish segments are contributing with 1,100,000,000.0, and the pelagic segment is down by NOK 450,000,000 to NOK 200,000,000, mainly driven by the performance in our Peruvian entity and in our Norwegian activity mainly because of reduction in the fish mean, fish oil marine oil prices in particular. Looking at first half year, just below NOK 20,000,000,000 in revenue, EBITDA of NOK 3,200,000,000.0 and an EBIT of NOK 2,100,000,000.0. We have a total asset of 52,000,000,000, equity share of 52%, and net interest bearing debt of NOK 9,000,000,000. And it’s also satisfying to see that despite the reduction of prices we have seen first half, we are now delivering a better contribution from LHRE first half comparing with first half twenty twenty four.
First of all, seafood is all about volumes. We are now catching, aiming to catch in 2025 just below 500,000 tons of pelagic fish in on our own quotas. If you include the fish we are purchasing from third parties, we are aiming to handle 1,900,000 tons in both Chile, Peru, and here in the North Atlantic. We are the largest whitefish producer in Norway and aiming to catch and produce approximately 80,000 ton in total. And this year, we also have ambitions to slaughter just below 220,000 tons of salmon.
Then starting up going through segment by segment starting up in Peru. And I would say in advance of the first season in Peru, they had a record high biomass measure of just over 11,000,000 tons, and the quota was set of on on 3,000,000 tons. The season started up the April 22 and stopped July 23. And and as you can see, it was only approximately 83% of the total quota, which were harvested. So approximately 17% were left in the ocean from the first season, and this is also reflecting the performance of Ostral, our company.
And I would say that the season started up extremely well. We in the first half of the season, our catch level was extremely good. And then I will say the oceanographic condition changed. It was the fishery was impacted by a high presence of juveniles, meaning that this the area were closed, also a higher salinity level were pushing the fish closer to shore where we don’t have access. So in that case, we we were happy, I would say, with the volume we were we’ve been able to catch, but I would say second half, the costs were much higher to than it was in the first half, which also reflecting those margins.
If you compare with last season in 2024, you can also see that the yields are considerably lower, both, I would say, for fish meal and in particular on fish oil, which also impacted the margins. And also the fish oil prices was approximately 50% of the fish oil prices we had in second quarter twenty twenty five. So all in all, volume was okay, but it was the result is impacted by increasing cost second half, lower yields, and also falling falling prices. In Chile, also, we have seen falling prices both on fish mill, fish oil, and also on frozen products. But I would say Chile is delivering better this quarter than last quarter, but we’ll take you through that afterwards.
In terms of volumes, or less on the same level. And first half is a record year for us with 84,000 ton versus 75,000 tonnes same period last year. When we did our first quarter presentation, we did know when the new fishing law was coming into place, and we guided on 65,000 tons for 2025. But the new fishing law is not counting before 2026, meaning that the volume this year is gonna be a bit higher than we guided last quarter. All in all, we are expecting in 2025 to produce a 140,000 tons of jacked metal, a bit higher than last year as a consequences of the new volume coming in.
The new fishing act will come into force in 2026. And, of course, I would say the fishing industry is a capital intensive industry. We are doing investments for twenty to twenty five years depreciations. And it’s, of course, not ideal for us, changing the distribution from 90% of the industry to 70% of the industry, and the predictability is challenged. And it’s getting more difficult to do investment based on that.
In addition to the change of distribution, it’s also implemented in 2026, a new international quota tax when you’re buying quota from outside Chilean waters on $95 per ton, which of course also changing the predictability and and of course might impact the financial result also for 2026. When it comes to the North Atlantic pelagic quotas, previously, if you look from 2014 to 2024, it’s been a quite stable outtake with average of 3,500,000 tons in the North Atlantic. While you see in 2025, the volume is down by approximately 500,000 tons, mainly driven by the Barents Sea Cape Line is down, sandhill quota is out, and macro quota is down by 22%. Nazi Herring quota is down by 21%, meaning that there’s a higher competition in order to get raw material. For Pelagia segments, again, looking at volumes, it’s not far away from the volumes we had last year.
I would say we have received blue whiting and trimmings from both herring and salmon, in the quarter. But it’s also fair to say that we have experienced decreasing prices, in particular, on marine oils, both on salmon oils and fish oil, which has put the pressure a lot on margins and also total earnings this year versus same period last year. And I would say drop in the financial result in Pelarga is mainly in this quarter, it’s mainly coming from the drop in margins from the fish feed or fish meal segment. When it comes to the direct human consumption production, volume wise, better than last year, We have, committed a good North Sea herring season, and it’s also fair to say that the period we are now entering into is the most critical period for this segment when the mackerel season is starting up and also the harrying in the end of the year. So I would say so far, the the feed segments food segment is delivering according to the expectation.
Now looking at the result, you can see that the result is down by 260 millions and again, the majority of the explanation is that the raw material has been too high priced according to what the market is paying for, in particular, fish oil and marine oil in the in the quarter. Then entering into the salmon and white fish segments, and I would say it’s fair to say that LRE has shown a quite good biological performance compared with same quarter last year. I would say the growth, mortality, superior share, and also the slaughtering in the quarter has been far better than it was the same quarter last year, and we’re also seeing that the underlying result now is improving as a consequence of the different measures which has been done in Lehre. But that’s more than compensated by a drop of of the spot price. So spot prices is down $30.30 NOK per kilo versus same quarter last year.
And you can also see that EBIT per kilo is down by approximately 15 NOK per kilo, meaning that we are performing much better if you look at the reduction of prices. Volume wise, up with 33. It’s double volume in Lerre Aurora in the quarter, 11,000 tons. Lerri Midnik, 19,000 tons, and Lerri Shottol, 21,000 tons in the quarter. EBIT per kilo of 12.4 NOK, which is distributed with 19 NOK per kilo in 11 and a half NOK per kilo in and just below 10 NOK per kilo in Maintaining the guidance, 195,000 tons in Norway and and 16,000 tons in our share in Scotland, bringing the total volumes of Lere to 211,000 tonnes, expecting slaughter in 2025.
It’s also comforting looking at the financial performance on the wild catch side of Lare Seafood Group, although we have a reduction of the in the white fish segment, Codecor of 31%, and we are seeing that the increase of prices is more than compensating for the drop of the quota. We have an increase of cod prices of 22%. The increase of had a quota of 55% and a safe quota of 69% comparing with the same quarter last year. And you also see that we are more or less, having the same volumes left for the remaining of, the year. But I would say the food February in the wildcatch segment is the most important quarter for the financial result of the Wildcatch.
Then I will give the floor to Britt Katrina.
Britt Katrina Dreyvenes, CFO, Oostowal: Thank you, Arne. As usual, we start by looking at the table that summarize the volumes for the different companies in the quarter. And I want I would like to highlight that we have a substantial increase in slotted volume of salmon and trout, 57,000 tonnes compared to 45,000 tonnes in same quarter last year. And that is due to a clear improvement in biology in Slough in Lere and also the increase is coming from Lere. On has taken you through the key figures, so I will not repeat too much.
But this graph includes 50% our 50% share of Pelagia in the revenue and the EBITDA and shows the changes in revenue and EBITDA from second quarter last year. I would like to highlight that in second quarter in 2024, we had a large one off. Brodan and Birkel and OES sold shares in two pelagic companies. And you can see the change in the graph here, which, of course, affect Q2 in last year substantially, so it’s not quite comparable. If we look at the revenue and look at the revenue excluded this one off, there is a 12% increase in revenue this quarter compared with same quarter last year.
I will comment a little bit more in detail on the earnings when we come to the different companies. The operating revenue in second quarter was close to NOK 10,100,000,000.0, up from NOK 8,600,000,000.0, which is an increase of 17%. And as you can see here, we have the total gain from the sale of shares, the one off in second quarter last year of close to NOK 1,300,000,000.0. The EBT in the quarter was NOK 1,300,000,000.0 compared to EBITDA of 1,800,000,000.0 if we exclude this the one off related to the sale of shares, and that is down NOK $480,000,000. And as Arne has mentioned already, we have seen a significant reduction in the prices for salmon and throats, which, of course, has impacted the earnings from the farming activity.
In addition, there has been a decrease in prices for fish meal and fish oil, which has also affected our earnings in South America. Depreciation has increased. It’s $544,000,000, up from NOK $5.00 2,000,000 and can be explained by investment program in new technology in farming, but also some investment in increased capacity related to service and treatment vessels. Income from associated companies are substantially down, minus SEK 13,000,000, down from SEK 142,000,000. The two largest associated companies are Pelagia and Norscot Harbourg, which owns the Scottish Sea Farms, the Scottish farming company.
Arne has already commented on Pelagia and the result there and the reason for the decrease in earnings from that company. When it comes to Norskot, the reason behind the reduction in earnings there are, of course, linked to the substantial reduction in the salmon prices in the quarter. We have a negative fair value adjustment related to biological assets, and I have to comment that this biomass adjustment does not have any cash effect. It was minus $513,000,000 in the quarter. It was positive same quarter last year, NOK 178,000,000.
To sum up, this gives us an operating profit of 128,000,000, down from NOK 2,800,000.0. But again, I have to remind you that last year, we had a one off related to gain from sale of shares of close to NOK 1,300,000,000.0. Net profit is NOK 106,000,000, and that gives an earnings per share of NOK 0.3. If we adjust for the biomass adjustment, the earnings per share is NOK 1.3, down from NOK 5.1 in same quarter last year. The main value drivers for LEARE is, of course, slaughtered volume of salmon and throath and also the catch volume in the wild catch segment.
Slaughtered volume is up 33% and close to 49,000 tonnes. There has been, as I mentioned, a clear improvement in biology. And this has also given us lower cost per kilogram year on year. Prices, however, has been substantially lower. Spot prices down NOK 30 in the quarter.
And this has given us a substantial decrease in earnings related to the farming part of the segment of the company. If you look at the EBIT adjusted per kilo and this in the value chain, and this includes the earnings from farming and the VAP sales and distribution segment, that is NOK 12,400,000.0 down from NOK 27,100,000.0. The VAP sale and distribution segment has continued its positive development, had a record quarter. There has been structural improvements and also a strong demand in the end market. And the EBIT from this segment is NOK $351,000,000, up from NOK $217,000,000 in same quarter last year.
Within wild catch, there has been a significant quota reduction. And that, of course, impacts the catch volume for the trawling fleet. But we have seen also a substantial increase in prices for our raw material, and that has compensated for the reduction in quotas. However, this is quite challenging for the onshore activity because a combination of lower raw material and also and combined with higher raw material prices is extremely challenging. And catch volume is more or less in line with same quarter last year, and the increase in prices has given a quite good contribution to the segment.
And the EBIT here is NOK 148,000,000, up from a negative EBIT of NOK 4,000,000 in same quarter last year. Going into looking at Austral group in Peru, the first fishing season started up at twenty second of April. Austral caught 160,000 tonnes in Q2. And in the beginning of the season, during April and May, we had very high daily catch rate. However, due to sea conditions and other factors, the daily catch rates slowed substantially in June and July, which of course has impacted our cost on this production from the season.
Sales volumes are substantially up. However, prices are down. Fish meal prices down 11%, fish oil 58%. And that, of course, impacted quite significantly the earnings in the quarter. Revenue in the quarter of NOK $691,000,000, EBITDA of NOK 85,000,000 and an EBIT of NOK 26,000,000, down from NOK $233,000,000 in same quarter last year.
Our inventory by end of second quarter is a little bit over 42,000 tonnes of fishmeal and over 5,000 tonnes of fish oil. Chile had high activity in the quarter despite a stop in fishing for twenty seven days in May, waiting for the final quotas to be settled for 2025, as Arne has already explained when he went through the operation in Chile in the quarter. We have had higher sales volumes for frozen products and fish meal and a little bit decrease in sales volume for fish oil. Price achievements are down. Fish meal down 17%, fish oil down 68% and frozen down 16%.
The revenue came in at NOK 400,000,000, the EBITDA at NOK 94,000,000 and the EBIT at NOK 80,000,000, an increase from the NOK 61,000,000 in same quarter last year. Kopeviko Furuhollmann is a small farming company on the West Coast Of Norway, and they have slaughtered a little bit less than 2,000 tonnes in the quarter, which is 25% down compared to same quarter last year. The company sells all its fish in the spot market and of course are significantly impacted by the decreases in spot benchmark prices of NOK 30 in this quarter compared with the same quarter last year. In addition, we have had a cost increase year on year due to slaughtering from a high cost site. So the EBIT per kilo is negative NOK 4,300,000.0, down from a positive of NOK 45,200,000.0 in same quarter last year.
And last year, we had the opposite situation. We were slaughtering from a low cost site in addition to a substantially higher price achievement. The company has finalized their slaughtering from this high cost site now in Q3. Revenue in the quarter was SEK 160,000,000, EBITDA of 4,000,000 and a negative EBIT of SEK 8,000,000. Brunner Birtland, second quarter this year is not comparable with second quarter last year.
As you can see, we had this one off because we sold the shares in two pelagic companies in second quarter in 2024. The remaining operation in Brundenbirtland is two vessels fishing snow crab, and they finalized the quota now in second quarter. And as we also commented when we reported our first quarter figures, there has been a substantially higher price achievement in 2025 compared with 2024. There since they have finalized their quotas for the year, there will activity for the remaining 2025, and necessary maintenance are carried out in this laid up period. Revenue in the quarter was $5,000,000 EBITDA of $11,000,000 and EBIT of 6,000,000 Looking at our statement of financial positions, we have total assets close to NOK 52,000,000,000 by the June year compared to close to NOK 54,000,000 by the June year.
As you can see, we have had an increase in tangible fixed assets. And I mentioned it already, we have been investing in new in addition to the CapEx, maintenance CapEx, we have invested in, among others, shielding technology in farming. And also we have bought two secondhand fishing vessels this quarter, one for Peru and one for Chile. Looking asset at cost, we have a higher standing biomass and that increased this line, the line biological asset at cost. Also, there is a sharp reduction in fair value adjustment of biomass.
Looking at this by the end of this quarter compared to same quarter last year. And finally, also our cash position is down. And the cash position by the June in 2024 was highly impacted by the income from the sale of shares in the Tupelegi company, and that was close to NOK 2,000,000,000. Net interest bearing debt by the June is NOK 9,100,000,000.0, up from SEK 6,100,000,000.0 by June. We have a very strong balance sheet, and we have an equity ratio of 52%.
Looking into our cash flow. The cash from operating activity was 1,200,000,000.0 in second quarter this year. And looking at first half, it was close to NOK 2,800,000,000.0. And that is substantially up compared to same periods in 2024 and reflects a very positive development in working capital now in 2025. Cash from investing activity is minus $430,000,000.
And in addition to the maintenance CapEx, we have also, as I mentioned, bought two secondhand fishing vessels in the second quarter. Last year, the cash from investing activity was impacted by this one off sale of shares of close to which was close to 2,000,000,000. Cash from financing activity is minus NOK 1,500,000,000.0. And as you can see, we have paid a dividend of close to NOK 2,100,000,000.0, and that is up from NOK 1,600,000,000.0 in same quarter last year. And to sum up, we started the quarter with a cash position close to SEK 5,200,000,000.0, and we ended the quarter with a cash position of close to SEK 4,500,000,000.0.
Then, Arne, I give the floor to you.
Arne, Primary Speaker/Executive, Oostowal: Then I’m shortly going to take you through the outlook in the different segments we are operating within, starting off with the fish meal segments. And as you can see, fish meal volumes among the largest producers up by 13%, mainly driven by an increase of 21% from Peru and 16 and a half percent of Chile. Repeatedly, you can see that volumes more or less on the same level, from Peru in second season than the same season last year. And prices now is $1,740 for high quality fish meal and approximately a discount of 220 for standard. Also looking into China, which is the main market for fish meal, we are seeing that stock wise is 27% up versus same period last year.
I think China has been taking approximately 80% of the volumes from the Peruvian production, and the offtake is on a high level, and there’s limited volume left to be traded. So now we are concentrating on the next season’s quota to sell to to China. You can also see prices is a bit higher in China also stimulating to additional trade. Fish oil, less increased than fish meal, four and a half percent up, and you can see it’s negative due to the low yield in the seasons in in Peru. Prices been dropping 2.4 $2,400 per ton for feed grade and over $3,000 for Omega three grade in the quarter.
Then taking a look into the salmon supply, and I can see it’s in 2025, it’s a 9% increase in the total supply worldwide. In Europe, 10% up, and Norway, 10.4% up. So I would say we are coming from three years with zero growth through a year with approximately 10% growth. And looking into 2026, the expectation out of Europe is just below 1% and Norway more or less on the same level, meaning that the MAB regulation is, I would say, fully utilized in 2025, and there is limited room to grow based on the license we are having in Norway for 2026, which, of course, could also give some basis for improving prices. So we don’t expect the same supply increase in ’26 as it was in 2025.
And one of the explanation behind the lower prices we are experiencing now is the volumes coming out of Europe, which has been tremendously higher than on a monthly basis than it was, I would say, the last three years before. And you can see also that volumes also continued to increase in July, and thereafter, you see that the expectation is a zero growth for the remaining of the year. So I would say we are expecting a flat supply going forward from August until December. And as a consequence of the higher volume coming in, you can also see that spot prices is considerably lower in second quarter. And now you can see that spot prices is lower than the operational cost of raising a kilo of salmon.
So what we are experiencing now is is as as as as an industry is too low prices versus the cost that is to produce. Market wise, EU, again, the main market for Norwegian salmon increased by 9% during this year. Other markets mainly driven by demand from Asia is up by 15%, and US market is up by 12%. So summing up, I would say we are satisfied with the biological performance in Leyre, and we can also see that the measures we have initiated is now showing and also reflecting in the financial result. We have had contract share of 30% in the second quarter, expecting 25% by the end of the year.
And, again, spot prices now we are seeing is below production cost that will, of course, impact profitability. When it comes to whitefish, the gold quota, as I mentioned, was down by 31%, but I would say that the increase of prices has more than contributed the reduction of quota. I also see that twenty twenty six quota is recorded down by 21%, but we are expecting that that will be the floor, and we are expecting also volumes to come up after that. South America, we are satisfied with the volume, but, again, not happy with the profitability for the season. And we have to admit that the cost by second half of the season were higher than what we were expecting and is also impacting the financial result together with the lower prices achieved in particular for the fish oil.
Chile again, we’re gonna have a good year in Chile and and new changes in the fishing law. We’ll have a new distribution. Depending on the increase of quota for next year, we are expecting that the volume drop will go anywhere from 13,000 tons to 6,000 tons depending if we have a 5% increase of quota or 15% increase of quota. And the North Atlantic is we are into the most important period for our food
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