Mowi to write off €21m feed bill for Arctic Fish in return for shares 

Mowi is to cancel a €21 million debt for feed it supplied to its Icelandic salmon farming subsidiary Arctic Fish Holding in return for a tranche of new shares in the company.

The arrangement is part of a €35m paper exercise by Arctic Fish, which needs extra capital to ensure compliance with loan covenants, and its two biggest owners.

World No.1 salmon farmer Mowi, which owns a 51.28% stake in Arctic Fish, and Síldarvinnslan hf., which owns 34.19%, have pre-committed to subscribe for 13,128,300 that Arctic Fish wil issue in a private placement, subject to approval at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on or about September 4.

Arctic Fish said 7,876,980 new shares will be subscribed by and allocated to Mowi ASA and 5,251,320 new shares will be subscribed by and allocated to Síldarvinnslan hf. The shares have a nominal value of NOK 1.0, and a subscription price of NOK 31.80.

Debt conversion

“Mowi ASA will settle its subscription amount in the private placement through a conversion of the Company's debt to Mowi ASA of €21 million relating to deliveries from Mowi Feed in Norway and in Scotland to the Company,” Arctic Fish said in a notice of the EGM.

Arctic Fish has licences for 29,800 tonnes maximum allowed biomass covering 11 farming areas in six different fjords, all located in the Westfjords of Iceland. 

Last year, Iceland’s Environmental and Natural Resources Board of Appeal (UUA) annulled portions of Arctic Fish’s licence for new sites at Kirkjusund and Arnarnes in Ísafjarðardjúp and instructed the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) to conduct further review.

“These two sites, which have never been operational, will not impact our current production capacity and forecast,” said Arctic Fish when the decision was announced.

The UUA rejected complaints regarding the renewal of Arctic Fish’s operational and environmental licences in Patreksfjörður and Tálknafjörður, confirming the continuation of activities as planned.

€4.8m loss in Q2

According to Mowi’s quarterly reports, Arctic Fish harvested 3,130 gutted weight tonnes of fish in the first quarter of this year, and made an operating loss of €100,000. In Q2, it harvested 2,021 gwt and recorded an operating loss of €4.8m.

“The sites harvested in the quarter carried a high cost level,” Mowi wrote in its Q2 2025 report published yesterday.

“Furthermore, cost was impacted by negative harvest deviation at one site, in addition to negative scale effects from low volumes.

“There was a general improvement in Farming KPIs compared with Q2 2024, including seawater production, mortality and average harvest weight. Feed conversion ratio was relatively stable.

“Streamlining of operations and cost reductions continue to be high priorities going forward.”