Due to a solid fourth quarter in 2023 and a strong financial year overall, Bergen, Norway-headquartered Lerøy Seafood Group (LSG) is making steady progress toward meeting most of its 2025 strategic targets originally set in mid-2022, according to the company's CEO, Henning Beltestad.
These objectives include an EBIT of NOK 1.25 billion (USD 118 million, EUR 109.1 million) for its downstream Value-Added Processing, Sales, and Distribution (VAPS&D) segment, an annual salmonid harvest of 205,000 gutted-weight tons (GWT), and a wild-catch EBIT of NOK 500 million (USD 47.2 million, EUR 43.6 million).
Delivering the seafood group’s Q4 and FY 2023 results on 28 February, Beltestad confirmed the company hauled in NOK 30 billion (USD 2.8 billion, EUR 2.6 billion) in revenue for the first time in its history in 2023, which included “significant improvement” in the earnings of its VAPS&D segment.
Lerøy’s VAPS&D segment achieved higher profitability in 2023, which Beltestad largely attributed to operational improvements, increased capacity utilization, and rising product prices that reflected increased raw material costs.
As for meeting the segment’s 2025 VAPS&D EBIT target, Beltestad said this is a “stretch goal” but that the company believes it’s “reachable” with its current setup, specifically pointing toward improved profitability and solid development in key global markets. The segment operates in 14 different countries around the globe.
Lerøy’s Q4 operational EBIT overall, meanwhile, amounted to NOK 643 million (USD 60.7 million, EUR 56.1 million), which was up from the NOK 502 million (USD 47.4 million, EUR 43.8 million) the company reported a year previously.
Elsewhere, Beltestad described Lerøy’s 2025 target for its Farming segment of harvesting 205,000 GWT as more of a “hairy goal” but said it’s also achievable.
The company, like other Norwegian salmon-farming operations, reported suffering losses related to string jellyfish swarms in 2023 that led to lost feeding days in Lerøy Aurora and an accelerated harvest in Lerøy Sjøtroll. But largely, LSG’s Farming segment recorded “satisfactory” performance to end the year, Beltestad said.
Lerøy harvested 47,500 GWT of farmed salmon and trout in Q4 2023, marking a decrease of 5,800 MT compared to Q4 2022 and contributing to a total for the full year of 160,000 GWT. Including the company’s 50 percent share in Scottish Seafarms, its annual total was ...
