Austevoll Seafood ASA

Earnings Release • Feb 28, 2025

Financial report Q4 2024 and preliminary financial statements for 2024

Financial report Q4 2024 and preliminary financial statements for 2024

The Group reported revenue of NOK 9,096 million in Q4 2024, compared with NOK 8,754 million in Q4 2023. The increase in revenue comes from Lerøy Seafood Group and FoodCorp Chile.

Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 2024 was NOK 1,401 million, up from NOK 1,190 million in Q4 2023. The revenue growth essentially derives from the companies in Peru and Chile as a result of good catch volumes and good sales volumes for end products.

Adjusted EBIT in Q4 2024 was NOK 845 million, compared with NOK 705 million in Q4 2023.

Norskott Havbruk AS (Scottish Sea Farms Ltd) and Pelagia Holding AS are the Group’s two largest joint ventures. Income from associates before fair value adjustment related to biological assets totalled NOK 51 million in Q4 2024 (Q4 2023: NOK 111 million). The equivalent figure including fair value adjustment of biological assets was NOK 54 million (Q4 2023: NOK 109 million). The Group’s joint ventures and associates have generated good results over time, are significant enterprises in their segments and represent substantial values for Austevoll Seafood ASA. After some very challenging years, it is pleasing to see the expected positive development at Scottish Sea Farms Ltd. Please refer to note 5 for further information on associates.

Adjusted EBIT including revenue from associates was NOK 899 million in Q4 2024, against NOK 815 million in the same period of 2023.

Operational EBIT after fair value adjustment of biological assets and other income and expenses totalled NOK 1,439 million in Q4 2024 (Q4 2023: NOK 937 million). Fair value adjustment related to biological assets amounted to NOK 725 million in Q4 2024, compared with NOK 250 million in Q4 2023.

The Group’s net interest expense in Q4 2024 totalled NOK -190 million (Q4 2023: NOK -91 million). Net other financial expenses in the quarter totalled NOK -11 million. The equivalent figure in Q3 2023 was NOK -26 million.

The Group reported profit before tax in Q4 2024 of NOK 1,238 million (Q4 2023: NOK 820 million).

In May 2023, the Storting voted to introduce 25% resource rent tax on earnings from sea-based production of salmon and trout. The legislation was implemented with retroactive effect from 1 January 2023. The resource rent tax comes on top of ordinary tax of 22%, giving a total tax rate of 47% for the activity concerned/scope of the tax wedge. To achieve tax symmetry, the Group is of the opinion that expenses linked to the opening biomass balance at the time the resource rent tax regime was implemented must be part of the regime’s tax base. The Group has therefore changed its historical return for some of the companies in the Group. For the resource rent tax, this will entail symmetry between revenue and expenses, and the Group has claimed a deduction for expenses related to the fish it has sold under the resource rent tax regime. The Norwegian government received numerous submissions on how the authorities had established a “tax wedge” in the value chain and – on top of that – a tax base that is to be determined by a “norm price council”. These exhaustive and technically substantiated submissions highlight the unreasonableness inherent in the risk of systematically inaccurate tax bases, but also the enormous expenses associated with reporting and follow-up. It is stressed that the uncertainty linked to tax estimates is significantly higher than normal as a result of the authorities imposing this surtax on Norwegian aquaculture.

Profit after tax in Q4 2024 was NOK 1,810 million, against NOK 767 million in Q4 2023.

For further information please see attached report and presentation.

Questions and comments may be addressed to the company's CEO, Arne Møgster, or to CFO, Britt Kathrine Drivenes.

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to Section 5-12 vphl (Norwegian Securities Trading Act).