processor Leroy Seafood Group has continued on its upward trend, capitalising on rising Atlantic salmon and trout prices to record its "best quarter ever".Sales jumped 36.4% year-on-year to €391 million (NOK3.18 billion), while profits were up €22.2 million to €67.7 million.
In a statement released yesterday, the company said that it harvested 33,336 metric tons gutted weight of salmon and trout, up from 33,231 mt during the same period in 2013. Leroy expects to harvest a total volume of 163,000 mt in 2014.
The company credits a 32% increase in price for salmon over 2013, resulting from limited growth in the global supply of Atlantic salmon in 2013 and the start of 2014 together with strong growth in demand.
"The main driver behind the increased revenue and operating profit is higher price achievement for the group's main products, Atlantic salmon and trout. This is the highest operating profit before biomass adjustment ever reported in a quarter," a company statement read.
In related news, the Group detailed plans to expand its smokehouse on the island of Osteroy outside Bergen in southwester Norway this summer.
The smokehouse, which Leroy says is already the largest in Norway for Atlantic salmon and trout, will be expanded to have a capacity of 12,000 metric tons of raw material, Leroy said in its first quarter report.
Also in the report, Leroy revealed that it has invested in so-called “fish-cuts” facilities, in a bid to “drive a ‘revolution’ in the distribution of fresh seafood”.
