BioMar revenue up, profit down for 2017
Feed manufacturer BioMar has revealed a 12% increase in revenue in 2017, raising from 8.867 billion Danish crowns (£1.059 bn) in 2016 to DKK9.95bn (£1.19bn).
Operating profit (EBIT) fell from DKK581 million (£69.4m) to DKK559m (£66.8m), which the company described as a solid result that exceeded expectations.
The company said the revenue increase was largely driven by a significant capacity expansion in Norway and the acquisition of the shrimp feed producer Alimentsa in Ecuador.
“I believe that our strategic decision to safeguard local agility has proven to be a strong competitive advantage across our markets,” said chief executive Carlos Diaz.
“Together with the customers, we keep improving growth performance and animal health, at the same time moving even beyond, embracing important trends within the consumer markets. In parallel, we have continued our meticulous focus expanding and optimising global innovation capacity.”
‘Encouraging year’
Diaz added: “It has been a busy, but encouraging year. We accomplished our first full year with operations in Turkey and China, and we completed the acquisition of Alimentsa in Ecuador to complement our presence in the shrimp segment, together with our factory in Costa Rica.
“On top of this we initiated our factory project in Australia, started the biggest fish feed line in the world and began operations of our new LNG (liquid natural gas) vessel in Norway, reinforcing our state-of-the-art technology and fleet. And finally we started the construction of our trial facility in Ecuador to supplement the ATC network together with lots of interesting product concepts launched in our different markets. Everywhere I have seen an amazing dedication to innovating aquaculture.”
Total volumes sold rose by 20% compared to 2016. The salmon markets accounted for the largest increase, supported by expanded production capacity, increased global biomass and favourable biological conditions. The other markets followed the upward trend in volumes and revenue, with the newly established business in Turkey proving solid foothold in the market.
“We expect another busy year, with increased competition in some markets, but we are confident in our strengths and the good base we have built,” said Diaz.
