Record Q1 harvest in Scotland helps Mowi off to a bumper start
World’s largest salmon farmer has never had better seasonal revenues and harvest volumes
Mowi Scotland harvested 20,570 gutted weight tonnes in the first quarter of this year, a record high for a first quarter and up from 17,656 gwt in the same period last year.
Norwegian parent company Mowi ASA had its second best first quarter ever with operational profit of €221 million on seasonally record-high revenues of €1.54 billion.
The world’s largest salmon farmer has never had better seasonal revenues and harvest volumes, it said in its Q1 report today.
Exceeding forecasts
Mowi harvested 136,000 tonnes in the first quarter, an increase of 10% compared with the same period last year, exceeding forecasts.
Norway, the company’s biggest operation, harvested 75,559 gwt (Q1 2025: 61,703 gwt) and was the most profitable, making operational EBIT of €2.40 per kilo (€2.51/kg). Mowi Scotland was the second best, making €1.49/kg.
Mowi ASA expects to harvest 605,000 tonnes in total in 2026, equivalent to 3.5 billion salmon meals. This represents annualised growth of 8.3%.
Harvest volume in Chile for the quarter was 20,978 gwt, in Canada it was 8,205 gwt, in Ireland 2,061 gwt, in the Faroes 3,075, and in Iceland it reached 6,029 gwt.
Impressive growth
Volume growth is one of Mowi’s strategic pillars and the farming business has seen impressive growth in recent years, growing from a 400,000-tonne farmer to a 600,000-tonne farmer.
“I am extremely impressed with my 11,700 colleagues around the world who continue to deliver record volumes, record earnings and not least extremely good operational and cost performance,” said Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim.
In Scotland, operational and financial performance was good in the quarter, with operational EBIT of €30.6 million, relatively stable from €31.5 million in Q1 2025.
Operational EBIT at €1.49 per kg, compared to €1.78 per kg in Q1 2025, was due to higher costs from sites in the Western Isles and Eastern Skye, said Mowi.
Differentiated products
Achieved prices in Scotland increased from Q1 2025 on the back of strong superior share and sale of differentiated products, including the Wester Ross brand, organic and Label Rouge products sold to the US and Europe respectively.
Biological conditions were generally good in the quarter, with survival rates and superior share improved from Q1 2025.
As a result of good operational and biological performance overall, Mowi ASA’s farming costs in the quarter fell to 7.3% below the same period last year.
“Mowi’s strategy is to be the cost leader, and we are among the very best on cost in all the regions where we farm salmon. Our cost level in the first quarter represents a reduction of €46 million year-on-year,” said Vindheim.
Downstream processing
Mowi Consumer Products, the group’s downstream processing business, delivered another solid quarter with record-high volumes for a first quarter of 70,000 tonnes product weight, up 21% year-on-year.
The salmon market continued to grow in the quarter and increased in value by around 7%, driven by 14% consumption growth.
Demand growth is still highest in Asia, up by 42% in Q1 year-on-year, with China leading the way, with 60% growth year-on-year, followed by the US and then the more mature, but still growing, European market.
Mowi expects to sell 650,000 tonnes of feed in 2026, representing growth of 11% compared with last year.
The board of Mowi has decided to pay a quarterly dividend of NOK 2.30 per share.
