High sea temperatures challenged Grieg Seafood in third quarter
Warmer water, gill challenges, and increased costs affected operations
Published
According to the company's Q3 2025 report, operating profit ended at NOK –1 million (-£75,600), down from NOK 39 million in the same period last year, reports Fish Farming Expert's Norwegian sister site, Kyst.no.
Operating revenues were NOK 754m, and operational EBITDA ended at NOK 28m. The company also reports a biomass adjustment of NOK 77m.
Demanding quarter
The harvest volume in the quarter was 6,820 gutted weight tonnes, compared to 8,543 gwt last year. Rogaland delivered an operating profit of NOK 3.2 per kilo, and Grieg points to strong freshwater production and larger smolt from Tytlandsvik and Årdal Aqua.
According to Grieg Seafood, the warm sea temperatures caused gill challenges and lower growth, which led to earlier harvesting in several pens at below optimal weight.
"This proactive measure resulted in a temporary increase in production cost (to NOK 70.4 per kilo, up from NOK 62 in Q3 2024) this quarter, but allowed us to optimise our maximum allowed biomass (MAB) and manage biomass effectively going into 2026," wrote chief executive Nina Willumsen Grieg in the company's Q3 report.
"We entered Q4 with maximum MAB at sea and fish with high average weights.
Importantly, this flexibility was made possible through our post-smolt strategy. In a traditional setup with smaller smolt,
early harvesting would have been far less feasible - and in some cases, could have resulted in biological losses and a
bigger reduction in our MAB. Thanks to our post-smolt model, we were able to harvest the fish rather than culling them,
underlining the value and resilience of our production strategy."
Approval for sale
Grieg Seafood is in the process of completing a comprehensive reorganisation following the sale of its operations in Finnmark, Norway and British Columbia and Newfoundland, Canada, to the world's third-largest Atlantic salmon farmer, Cermaq.
The Norwegian and United States authorities have approved the sale, while the process in Canada is expected to be completed during the current quarter.
Grieg's restructuring includes a staff reduction of approximately 55% at its head office in Norway.
"This difficult but necessary step will enable us to achieve our target of reducing overhead costs to below NOK 3.0 per kg by the end of 2026," wrote Nina Grieg.
The company also states that it is negotiating with banks SEB and Nordea about a new financing structure adapted to the company's new size and organisation.
