Marked improvement for Hjaltland

Operational EBIT for Grieg's Scottish operations was NOK 81 million (£7 million) at NOK 4.2 (£0.36) per kg. The equivalent for 2013 was NOK 27 million at NOK 2.1/kg.

The improved result, says Hjaltland, is mainly due to the harvest volume increasing to 19,231 tonnes of salmon in 2014, up from 13,158 tonnes in 2013 – an increase of 46%.

In Q2 2014 the company established Ocean Quality UK Ltd, which assumed all sales of fish from Shetland, something that also contributed to the improved margins for the region. The turnaround in Shetland, initiated in early 2013, has provided significant improvement both in terms of results and biological situation. Sea lice levels are significantly reduced after implementation, but remain a challenge. The efforts to keep sea lice levels on a satisfactory level have implied high treatment costs. There were no signs of AGD at any site in 2014, the company reveals.

Seals, on the other hand, proved to be a big challenge, for the company, as did gill problems, which have entailed high extraordinary mortality and high write-down costs during the year. The cost level in Shetland remains high. Further measures have been identified and are currently being implemented to improve production and reduce costs.

The completion of the new young fish plant is now ending and the first delivery of smolts is scheduled for spring 2015. When operating to its capacity it will enable the company’s Shetland sites to be 80% self-supplied with smolts.