Scottish Sea Farms recorded an operating loss of £11.85m last year

Salmon producer Scottish Sea Farms made an operating loss of £11.85 million last year, an unwelcome reverse from its £42.26m operating profit in 2024.

Turnover for SSF, which supplies retailer M&S Food, was £233m, a decrease of £86m on 2024, according to the fish farmer’s 2025 annual report which was made available by Companies House today.

Turnover yielded a gross profit of just £2.64m, compared to £57.9m in 2024.

Poor markets and gill health

“The markets for salmon dropped in price due to increased global supply and although this has helped build market share it has impacted this year’s result, alongside a challenging biological environment in Q4 of 2025 impacting the Group’s overall performance,” SSF’s directors wrote in their strategic report.

In December last year, SSF said Shetland experienced record-breaking sea temperatures in 2025, leading to plankton blooms and micro-jellyfish events which affected gill health at some of its sites there. Along with market conditions, this caused SSF to make an operating loss of £14.2m in Q4 and reduce its harvest volume guidance for 2026 by 2,000 gutted weight tonnes to 43,000 gwt. 

The company made a pre-tax financial loss of £26.4m for 2025, compared to a pre-tax profit of £24.2m the year before. A tax rebate boosted income by £7.2m, and it finished 2025 with a post-tax loss of £19.2m, a £36.2m negative turnaround compared to the £17m post-tax profit made in 2025.

Strong smolts

SSF, which is co-owned by Norwegian salmon farming heavyweights SalMar and Lerøy Seafood group, saw good performance at its hatcheries last year.

“Our smolt input of 12 million were put to sea from our sites at Barcaldine, Girlsta, and Knock delivering strong, healthy fish with a good cost base,” wrote directors.

At the end of 2025, SSF’s total assets, including fish, were valued at £463.4m, up from £446.3m at the end of 2024.

Despite its difficulties in 2025, SSF contributed £131,000 through its Heart of the Community fund to support initiatives in the areas where it operates. It takes the total amount it has paid to support local communities to more than £2m since 2011.

Real Living Wage

SSF’s directors reported that staff recruitment and development continue to be of paramount importance to the company, which continues with its commitment to paying the Real Living Wage.

The company increased its headcount by eight last year, to 608, of whom 535 (2024: 528) were classed as being engaged in production, and 73 (72) in administration. Staff costs totalled £33.8m (£33.5m).

 SSF made operating profits of £564,000 and £628,000 respectively in the first two quarters of 2026.

“Lower volumes adversely impacted unit costs, particularly within wellboat operations and processing,” co-owner Lerøy said in its report for Q1 2026. Results were also affected by high biomass costs following the biological challenges in Q4 2025, but the next generation of fish was performing well, the Norwegian company said.

Lerøy said in its Q2 2026 report that it was expecting significantly higher volumes and lower cost from SSF in coming quarters.