An on-land facility built by AKVA. The company increased revenue in Q4 but also saw increased costs.

Supply chain issues and inflation dent AKVA’s profit

Aquaculture industry supplier AKVA group increased both revenue and operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2020, it said in its Q4 2021 report published today.

Editors
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Revenue rose by 10% from NOK 757 million (£63.1m) to NOK 831m, and EBIT rose from NOK 9m to NOK 19m. However, AKVA said profitability had been negatively impacted by supply chain restrictions and cost inflation. Net profit in Q4 was NOK 6m, compared to NOK 7m in Q4 2020.

AKVA won orders worth NOK 741m in the quarter (Q4 2020: NOK 1.014 billion) and had an order book worth NOK 3 bn at the end of the year.

Table from AKVA's Q4 2021 report presentation. Click on image to enlarge.

Sea Based Technology (SBT)

SBT revenue for Q4 2021 ended at NOK 649m (580m). EBITDA and EBIT for the segment in Q4 ended at NOK 49m (39m) and NOK 14m (-4m), respectively. The related EBITDA and EBIT margins were 7.6% (6.6%) and 2.2% (-0.7%), respectively.

Order intake in Q4 2021 was NOK 693m compared to NOK 602m in Q4 2020. Order backlog ended at NOK 852m compared to NOK 850m in Q4 2020.

SBT revenue in the Nordic region ended at NOK 368m (NOK 369m), while in the Americas region revenue was NOK 157m, up from NOK 122m in Q4 2020.

AKVA’s Europe and Middle East (EME) region, which includes Scotland, had a revenue of NOK 124m from sea-based tachnology, an increase from NOK 89m in Q4 2020.

AKVA has a healthy order book, although much of the land-based order depends on Norway-based AquaCon AS securing financing for the first phase of a 50,000-tonne on-land salmon farm in Maryland, US. Click on image to enlarge. Bar charts: AKVA.

Land Based Technology (LBT)

Revenues were NOK 161m (157m). EBITDA and EBIT ended at NOK 9m (8m) and NOK 5m (9m), respectively. The related EBITDA and EBIT margins were 5.3% (4.8%) and 3.1% (5.5%).

Order intake in Q4 2021 was NOK 21m compared to NOK 385m in Q4 2020. The LBT order book was worth NOK 2,043m (NOK 975m), of which NOK 1.317 bn is related to an on-land salmon development in Maryland in the United States by AquaCon AS and is subject to financing.

Digital (DI)

The revenue in the segment was NOK 21m (20m) in Q4. EBITDA and EBIT ended at NOK 3m (8m) and NOK 0m (5m), respectively. The related EBITDA and EBIT margins were 13.1% (38.5%) and -1.4% (24.4%).

Balance sheet

AKVA group said its financial position remains strong after a private placement of NOK 322m to Israel Corporation Limited completed in October. The share placement and purchase of existing shares makes Israel Corp. AKVA’s second-largest shareholder, with 18% of equity.

AKVA’s working capital as a percentage of 12 months rolling revenue is 11.6% (8.5%). Cash and unused credit facilities amounted to NOK 603m (521m) at the end of Q4. Total assets and total equity amounted to NOK 3.455 bn and NOK 1.297 bn respectively, resulting in an equity ratio of 37.5% (32.3%) at the end of Q4 2021.

Outlook

The company said that despite a challenging 2021 with negative effects from both a cyber-attack in January that cost it NOK 49.7m and Covid-19 restrictions, the long-term fundamentals remained unchanged.

Salmon prices are expected to remain strong driven by reduced supply. On the other hand, uncertainty related to supply chain restrictions and cost inflations may impact the profitability.

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