Grieg Seafood lost £32.1m in first half of 2026

Salmon farmer Grieg Seafood has reported a pre-tax financial loss of NOK 409 million (£32.1m) for the first half of 2026, and an operating loss of NOK 424m.

These figures compare with a pre-tax loss of NOK 446m and an operating profit of NOK 9m in H1 2025.

“The first half of 2026 tested Grieg Seafood. Weaker market conditions than anticipated, combined with biological challenges and a company in transition, resulted in financial performance that is not satisfactory,” chief executive Nina Willumsen Grieg wrote in the company’s H1 2026 report, published today.

“The 2025 generation experienced biological challenges caused by a combination of factors following an unsatisfactory treatment period, affecting growth, mortality and harvest quality through Q1 and into Q2. The affected biomass was fully harvested in H1 2026.

“Looking ahead, the biomass entering H2 is performing well. We continue to view the event as a one-off and not representative of the underlying strength of our Rogaland operations.”

Focused on Rogaland

At the height of its geographical spread several years ago, Grieg Seafood operated in Shetland and Skye in Scotland, in Canada, and in the Finnmark and Rogaland regions of Norway, but was stretched too thin. It offloaded its Shetland and Skye operations to Scottish Sea Farms for £164m in 2021, and sold its assets in Pacific and Atlantic Canada and Finnmark to Cermaq for £738m last year.

Grieg Seafood reported that strong global supply growth weighed on salmon prices throughout H1, resulting in lower price achievement. At the same time, its Sales and VAP segment was impacted by ramp-up costs related to its new value-added processing facility at Gardermoen (Oslo Airport).

“The ramp-up has progressed well, and we expect the segment to contribute positively in H2 2026,” wrote Nina Grieg. “Our sales segment also delivered positive results in H1. Post-smolt has enabled Grieg Seafood to produce larger fish and leverage this to strengthen our market presence in Asia.”

1kg+ post-smolts

Freshwater production during H1 2026 was good, with a total stocking at sea of 2.9 million smolt with an average weight of 1.1kg to 1.3kg.

At land-based facility Årdal Aqua, which Grieg jointly owns with two other companies, multiple post-smolt batches were transferred to sea throughout H1, among them a fully land-grown group of fish averaging over 5.0 kg.

Grieg also completed its first full land-based harvest of 610 gutted weight tonnes of fish with an average weight of 5kg and a 95% superior share, but won’t be growing such big fish on land again in the immediate future.

“Based on the current cost profile at high average weights, we have shifted our land-based farming production and will utilise all halls for post-smolt, bringing Grieg Seafood’s total land-based smolt capacity to approximately 9,000 tonnes,” wrote Nina Grieg.

63% superior share

At sea, Grieg harvested 13,788 gutted weight tonnes, down from 16,269 gwt in the same period last year, and superior share fell to 63% from 85%. The company is expecting better results in H2 and is guiding for a full-year harvest of 31,000 gwt.

Operational EBIT per kilo in H1 was NOK 0.6, down from NOK 25.0 in H1 2025, and cost of reduced survival was NOK 23.6m (NOK 0.8m).

Farming cost per kilo rose to NOK 70.9 from NOK 56.6 as a direct consequence of the biological challenges of H1 2026, wrote Nina Grieg.

Choosing chicken meal

“Cost development is gradually improving as we enter H2, and we expect a significant improvement through the remainder of the year and into 2027,” reported the chief executive. “We remain confident in our full-year farming cost guidance of NOK 67.5 per kg. Returning to our historical cost levels will require continued disciplined execution, and progress is well under way.

“Our cost reduction programme is ahead of plan, with NOK 60 million in overhead savings already delivered and further initiatives under review for H2. Cost competitiveness remains a key priority, and we continue to assess the value chain to identify the most efficient operating model. In feed, rising costs have led us to adjust recipes, including the introduction of chicken meal and oil from Q3.”