Tasmanian salmon farmer Huon Aquaculture has scooped up 48 per cent more fish in the first half but its interim net profit sank 14 per cent on lower international prices.
Huon says that after two years of challenging market conditions its investment in rebuilding biomass has delivered a 48 per cent higher salmon harvest of 13,300 tonnes.
The average fish harvested in the last six months of 2019 weighed 5.07 kilograms compared with 4.1kg in the first six months of that year.
Revenue jumped 31 per cent to $178.1 million compared with the prior first half but interim net profit came in at $22 million compared with $26.4 million.
“This was in part due to a better-than-expected season in other growing regions that lifted supply and made our first half more challenging than first thought due to us exporting more fish this half than the prior corresponding period,” Huon said.
But despite the first-half pricing volatility, market demand continues to exceed supply and international pricing in the 2020 calendar year is forecast to be 17 per cent higher than in the last financial quarter.
Operating net profit declined $3.7 million in the first half of 201920 due to a change in channel mix, which resulted in a 12 per cent fall in average price, Huon said.
It also had higher interest and depreciation charges due to the mostly debt-funded increase in capital expenditure during the past two years.
The good news, Huon says, is the 13,300-tonne harvest for the first six months puts it on track to meet its full-year harvest forecast of at least 25,000 tonnes.
There is also enough biomass in the water to underpin increased production in the financial years of 2021 and 2022.
On the downside, there will be no dividend this financial year because of the ongoing focus on building biomass and the high debt levels.
AAP
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