Full-year results met expectations, New Zealand King Salmon says

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CEO of New Zealand King Salmon Carl Carrington.
Photo: Supplied / NZKS

Fish farmer New Zealand King Salmon says its full-year result has met its expectations, though the year ended on a slightly weaker note with a smaller than expected harvest.

Key numbers for the 12 months ended January compared with a year ago:

Net profit $28.5 vs $1.9m
Revenue $187m vs $167.1m
Sales volumes 5,899 tonnes vs 5,837 tonnes
Fish mortality cost $12.6m vs $25.9m
Forecast 2024/25 underlying profit $26m to $32m
No dividend paid during the year

Chief executive Carl Carrington said the company had dealt with a number of challenges over the past couple years which affected production volumes.

“As a result of the changes to our production plans in FY22, we were aware we would have a period of smaller fish in the last quarter of FY24,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the size of the fish did create some challenges with export markets. The good news is we are now through this period and are back to our normal size curve both now and in our future production plans.”

King Salmon chairperson Mark Dewdney said the second half of the year was a continuation of the company’s turnaround plan which began in 2023.

“Our new farming strategies have again assisted in reducing summer mortality, and we are continually looking at other ways to optimise our existing business.”

The fish farming business received a resource consent for the Blue Endeavour open ocean farm, located seven kilometres north of Cape Lambert, in Cook Strait.

Carrington said it was great to get the consent which cost millions of dollars over a nine-year period.

“We can now focus on the next steps for the Blue Endeavour project,” he said.

“The focus for FY25 is to complete the monitoring, as required by the consent, and to order the equipment for a pilot farm.”