SalMar ASA
OSE:SALM
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SalMar ASA
Earnings Call Analysis
Q3-2023 Analysis
SalMar ASA
SalMar reported a robust third quarter in 2023, achieving higher operational EBIT as a result of increased harvest volumes and reduced operational costs despite a backdrop of falling salmon prices. Harvesting activities resumed in Iceland after a halt in the previous quarter, and both Norway and SalMar Aker Ocean maintained their volume guidance. The company strengthened its financial standing by securing a new financing agreement and reducing debt and has stated the cancellation of treasury shares slated for the fourth quarter.
SalMar delivered a record high harvest volume in Norway contributing to significant operational EBIT. In terms of volume guidance for the year, the company remains consistent with previously announced figures for the primary Norway segments, while making upward adjustments in Iceland due to resumed operations. Conversely, Scottish Sea Farms' guidance is reduced by 2,000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes in light of operational challenges. The company prepares for the final quarter with anticipation of higher harvests compared to the third quarter.
SalMar's financial position has improved with an increase in the equity ratio to 40% and a reduction in debt. However, the implementation of the resource and tax expense has been a considerable hit to the company, with a total estimated tax expense of NOK 1.2 billion for the first 9 months of the year, reaching NOK 3.5 billion including the implementation effect from the second quarter. The management remains opposed to the resource rent tax model and seeks dialogue with authorities for a better-suited tax framework.
Looking forward to the 2024 harvest, SalMar is optimistic, noting improvements at locations previously facing biological challenges. A continued focus on enhancing the biological situation at Scottish Sea Farms aims to restore the company to its prior margin-leading position in the UK. The financial strategy involves a commitment to continued robust operations supported by new financing agreements, while also preparing for the completion of major capacity investments in 2023, which will subsequently lead to reduced capital expenditure moving forward.
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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of SalMar results for the third quarter of 2023. My name is Frode Arntsen, I'm the CEO of SalMar. And with me today is our CFO, Ulrik Steinvik. Our presentation will follow the same order as before. I will take you through some highlights on the operational results for the different segments. Then our CFO, will provide you with a financial update. I'll focus on sustainable growth on the terms of the salmon before wrapping up with an outlook for the future.
Third quarter '23 was a very strong quarter for SalMar. Despite the expected drop in salmon prices, the increased volume we have harvested and reduced cost in the value chain have contributed to our ability to report higher operational EBIT compared to the previous quarter. Total for Norway, we harvested 74,000 tonnes with a margin of NOK 30.7 per kilo, resulting in an operational EBIT of NOK 2,274 million. Including Icelandic Salmon and SalMar Aker Ocean, we harvested 78,100 tonnes with a total operational EBIT of NOK 2,300 million and a margin of NOK 29.5 per kilo. The farming segments in Norway delivered strong results with record high harvest volume and reduced cost level compared to previous quarters. Sales and industry continues to show good performance and showcased the strength in the set that we have in SalMar. And on Iceland harvesting started again after a stoping second quarter.
In addition, we have two semi offshore projects in operation after we also transferred fish to the Arctic offshore farming project. At the same time, we have improved and strengthened our financial position through a sale of a new financing agreement and reduction of debt due to good operation. In addition, we will cancel 13.1 million treasury shares in Q4. Ulrik will comment more on this later.
To sum things up, we are very pleased with the results in the period. Additionally, we have the pleasure of hosting several of you investors in Tromsø & Senja in September, where we were able to showcase the value chain and our future plans at SalMar. Our own employees certainly enjoyed the opportunity to showcase their workplace, and I hope many of you also appreciated the visit. For 2023, we are maintaining the volume guidance unchanged for Norway and SalMar Aker Ocean, although we are making some minor adjustments within the segments. On Iceland, we are increasing the guidance for '23 by 1,000 tonnes up to 17,000 tonnes and for Scottish Sea Farm, guidance is reduced with 2,000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes. And we anticipate significant growth in 2024 as we begin to realize the potential in our licenses.
I will come back to this towards the end of the presentation. But first, I'd like to go through the operational update, beginning with farming in Central Norway where we harvested 48,400 tonnes with an operational EBIT of NOK 1,280 and an EBIT per kilo, NOK 25.2. There has been good operational performance in this period. And as expected, the cost levels are lower than in the second quarter. We had record high harvesting volume during this period, harvesting from several well-performing sites. And we continued the harvesting of our '22 generation in the third quarter and also commenced harvesting of the Autumn '22 generation.
Although we faced challenges at some sites, including outbreaks of diseases like ISA. The impact has been limited due to the high volume from sites performing well. Looking ahead, we will conclude that the harvesting of our 2022 generation in the fourth quarter and continue harvesting the autumn 2022 generation. The status of the fish in the sea is, for the moment, good.
Moving into the fourth quarter, we anticipate a slight reduction in volume as we adjust the volume guidance downwards by 4,000 tonnes to 144,000 tonnes. This due to slightly lower growth than planned despite the fish overall good condition. We expect costs to remain at the same level. In Northern Norway, we harvested 25,700 tonnes in the period with an operational EBIT of NOK 868 million and EBIT per kilo of NOK 33.8. Northern Norway continues to deliver very strong results, driven by efficient operations throughout the value chain. As expected, the cost levels are slightly higher compared to the previous quarter, but with the high average weight of harvested fish, we have achieved a good price for the fish in the period, resulting in a positive outcome.
NRS accounted for 24% of the volume. And we see that the cost difference between old SalMar and NRS is gradually narrowing. In this period, we concluded the harvesting of the Autumn '21 generation and continued the harvesting of our '22 generation. Looking ahead, we will continue the harvesting of our '22 generation in the fourth quarter, and we expect a stable cost level. Similar to Central Norway, there is also a good biological status in the north. We have experienced good biological performance throughout '23 in Northern Norway. And even though we are transferring 4,000 tonnes to the SalMar Aker Ocean segment due to Arctic offshore farming, now being a part of this segment. We are maintaining 95,000 tonnes in Northern Norway. Therefore, we anticipate higher volume in the fourth quarter compared to what we had in Q3.
The segment sales and industry delivers an operational EBIT of NOK 236 million. In third quarter, our facilities have handled significantly higher volumes. We see that the structure we have built in SalMar with a focus on high harvest capacity and high local processing capacity near the areas where we operate in the sea really comes into effect in quarters like this. This is particularly important when we have quarters with high volumes as we are able to adjust the harvest output to optimize the biological performance at sea, while further processing gives us the flexibility to tailor products to the market.
This has allowed us to manage the fish effectively and achieved good prices in the market for the quarter while also achieving high capacity utilization of the facilities. The contract share was as expected at 15% in the quarter, where a lower salmon price contributed to a positive contribution from fixed price contracts. In the fourth quarter, we still expect high volume through our facilities, and we anticipate the contracture to remain around the same level as in the third quarter. We have secured some new contracts through '23 and are actively working with our customers to establish new agreements and models for 2024. Resource rent tax and norm price council still lead to some uncertainty. But as usual, we will provide an update on contract share for 2024 in the next quarterly presentation.
Now to the Westfjords in Iceland, after no harvesting in second quarter, harvesting resumed in the third quarter. We harvested 4,000 tonnes in the quarter with an operational EBIT of NOK 35 million, NOK 8.7 per kilo. A weak result driven by higher cost on the fish, we have harvested. At the end of September, a Capital Market Day was held and Iceland Salmon was also listed on the Icelandic Stock Exchange. We believe that listing on the Icelandic Stock Exchange is important for the company's further development, allowing us to attract even more local shareholders in Iceland. Looking ahead, we are increasing the volume guidance for '23 by 1,000 tonnes up to 17,000 tonnes, which means we expect higher volume in the fourth quarter.
We have also secured a new financing agreement of EUR 100 million in the fourth quarter, which facilitates the further growth plans we have in Iceland. Additionally, we have faced biological challenges at the beginning of the fourth quarter, which will impact the result in Q4 '23 and also the volume guidance for next year. High sea louse pressure has led us to take out fish to ensure good biological status heading into winter. A one-off effect will also be recognized in Q4 '23 estimated around EUR 5 million to EUR 6 million. This is not ideal for us, of course, but given the situation, it was the best solution to safeguard the fish welfare heading into a cold winter.
I will return for the expected volume for next year later on. For the third quarter of 2023, SalMar Aker Ocean had an operational EBIT of minus NOK 8 million due to production being underway at Ocean Farm 1 A larger portion of the cost is allocated to the biomass, resulting in a better result than in previous quarters. Additionally, we have also transferred the Arctic offshore farming project to SalMar Aker Ocean. This strategic move consolidates the focus on offshore operations in one place, allowing us to optimize how we manage the two projects in operation.
As mentioned under segment Northern Norway, this also means that we expect volume from this segment in the fourth quarter. We anticipate harvesting around 4,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter. And it will be interesting to see the results once we finish the first production cycle at Arctic Offshore farming. Note that costs will be higher for this fish since depreciation is fully allocated. In the strategic update, I will come back to how we envision offshore operations in light of the regulatory uncertainty we face for further offshore growth here in Norway.
And now let's move to Scotland, our associated company, Scottish seafarm, which delivered a weak result by slightly but slightly better than the previous quarter. In the third quarter, the company harvested 8,800 tonnes with an operational EBIT of minus NOK 121 million and EBIT per kilo of minus NOK 13.7 billion. As we mentioned in the previous quarter, the biological situation in Scotland remains challenging. This has affected the harvesting volume and the challenges have led to harvesting fish with low average weight, high cost and also achieving a low price. In addition, the figures for third quarter are affected by costs related to event-based mortality, especially in Shetland and Scotland, which further impact the results negatively.
Looking ahead, the situation is improving for generations we are planning to harvest in 2024. Several locations with fish that had biological challenges have now been emptied. And we see improvements in the biological status for the generations to be harvested in 2024. In '23, the volume guidance is reduced with 2,000 tonnes down to 25,000 tonnes. Therefore, we expect low volume in the third quarter. However, we are doing this to grow the fish so that we can achieve higher volume in '24.
As mentioned in our Capital Markets Day, where we also had Managing Director, Scottish Sea Farms, Jim Gallagher. We are fully focused on improving the situation through entrapments in smolt sea facilities and treatment capacity. This takes time, but we are committed to resolving this Scottish farm has previously been known for a margin leader in the U.K., and we aim to regain this position. With this, I have come to the end of the operational update, and I would like to hand over to Ulrik, who will take you through the financial update.
Thank you, Frode, and good morning to all of you. At the end of September, it was 11 months since the acquisition of NTS NRS and SalmoNor was completed. In the same period, strategic measures have been implemented. The financial results, the financial position and the financial key figures that I will take you through in this financial update, therefore, reflect more accurately than new SalMar. But first, one expect that requires further comments in connection with the review of the financial results and the financial position is the resource and tax. In the reporting of the second quarter numbers, SalMar recorded NOK 2.3 billion as an implementation effect, which is part of this year's tax expense. The implementation effect indicates that the introduction of the resource and tax was retroactively applied. It speaks therefore, to the expropriation of values and does not provide insight into the effect of the resource and tax on this year's value creation.
An updated estimate of the resource and tax expense for the first 9 months of 2023 has been incorporated into the third quarter financial statement. Like regular corporate tax, the resource and tax expense includes both payable resource and tax and changes in deferred resource rent tax. We consider the accounted cost to be our best estimate at the present time. However, we will use the time until year-end to review and further detail out our own calculations. This is a time-consuming task. SalMar farming requires more than just area and water and determining the correct tax base for the resource and tax object is demanding, both in terms of time us, unclear rules and by requiring a shift in mindset from looking outward to looking inward in this work.
Therefore, we will not communicate specific details in the calculations or estimate on effective tax rate would like you to remind you that the calculations take into account that only the commercial licenses are included. In addition, SalMar will receive an annual reduction of NOK 245 million for the first 5 years as a result of previous purchases our licenses in the traffic light system. In total, the estimated resource and tax expense, including production tax for the first 9 months of the year is NOK 1.2 billion. When adding the implementation effect recorded in the second quarter, these totals NOK 3.5 billion.
We in SalMar have consistently expressed our clear opposition to the resource rent tax, both regarding the proposed model and level. Additionally, when the government is not introducing a resource and tax on offshore farming that considers doing so when it becomes profitable later. It makes it worse and demonstrates hover on the model and basis where tax are. Frode will talk more about this later. For us, it will continue to be important to maintain and open a fact-based dialogue with the authorities and other stakeholders to highlight the consequences of the tax. With a goal to establish a model better suited for the industry and communities along the entire coast.
Let me now provide some comments related to the profit and loss statement for the third quarter of 2023. As Frode already mentioned, the third quarter was a relatively good quarter for SalMar. And what you can see in the upper right corner. The operational EBIT increased by NOK 555 million from NOK 1,745 million to NOK 2.3 billion. The increase in operational EBIT from the second quarter happened despite lower salmon prices in the period. Increased harvest volume and lower cost in the value chain contracted decline in salmon prices. Additionally, there was a positive change due to the volume from Iceland and the start of production in SalMar Aker Ocean.
Moving on to the profit and loss statement. You can see that we paid NOK 73 million in production tax in Norway, and resource tax in Iceland. This is a significant increase from the second quarter, driven partly by volume but also as a result of the production tax in Norway increasing from NOK 0.56 per kilo to NOK 0.90 per kilo from first of July 2023. Due to higher biomass and continued high prices, a fair value adjustment is positive. This value change increases the result by NOK 424 million. The result from associated companies was minus NOK 18 million in the third quarter. But a weak result from Scottish Sea Farms pulls down the overall figure. Our new associated companies after the merger with NRS Wilsgard Fiskeoppdrett contribute slightly positively due to a low harvest volume.
Net financial expenses in the third quarter amount to NOK 329 million. This is an increased cost compared to previous years due to both higher debt and higher interest rates. In total, this resulted in a pretax profit of NOK 2.3 billion. Regular corporate tax, along with the estimated resource and tax for the first 9 months of the year totaled NOK 1.6 billion. Consequently, the after-tax profit for the third quarter is NOK 681 million. With the entire cost of the resource and tax for the first 9 months charge in the third quarter. Due to the sale of Frøy in August, we have recognized a gain from the sale of NOK 363 million. Together with Frøy reserved in the period, the result from discontinued operations totals NOK 385 million.
This gives us a combined total result of around NOK 1 billion after tax for the third quarter. Year-to-date, you can see that the total result is NOK 2.1 billion, including the effect of Frøy. And now turning to the balance sheet, where financial key figures have significantly improved through the sale of Frøy a new financing agreement and a reduction in debt.
In 2023, we continue with our investment program for the already approved investments. We have a higher biomass at the end of Q3 '23 compared to Q2. Naturally, it is higher compared to the previous year due to the acquisitions. The total balance has over however, decreased from around NOK 64 billion to NOK 53 billion as a result of the sale of Frøy. Through the reduction in the total balance and a positive result, including resource and tax in the period, the equity ratio has increased to 40%. Debt has been reduced by NOK 6.8 billion and a key figure for debt ratio NEP, including leasing to EBITDA has been reduced to 1.9. Without leasing, the debt ratio is 1.7. This is below our goal of being below 2.0 in debt ratio, which has been achieved in the 11 months period since the acquisition last year. Along with the fact that we established a new financing agreement in August we have NOK 8 billion in available liquidity in the group at the end of the third quarter.
Overall, the balance sheet and the financial key figures show that we have a robust financial position and a platform that is ready for further sustainable growth, provided that the framework conditions enable profitable growth. Furthermore, the dividend policy remains unchanged and will apply going forward and for 2023. Additionally, we would like to remind you that in the extraordinary general meeting in October, it was resolved to cancel 13.1 million treasury shares. This will be canceled when the intra-group merger with NTS is completed, which we expect to happen in the fourth quarter.
I would like to briefly explain the changes in net interest bearing debt, including leasing, NIBD for the quarter. We started with a NIBD, including leasing of NOK 22.5 billion. During the period, we have sold assets that reduced our debt by NOK 4.8 billion bringing NIBD including leasing to NOK 17.7 billion. In that period, we have had a strong cash flow from operations with EBITDA at NOK 2.6 billion. Tax payments amounted to NOK 95 million in the quarter, and there was a change in working capital of minus NOK 358 million. Previously approved investments have continued in the period. In total, this amounted to NOK 429 million in the quarter.
As you can see in this quarter, Smolt investments are starting to decrease as we are nearing the completion of the facility at Tjuin. In addition, ongoing investments in both maintenance and capacity investments in other parts of the value chain continue.
Our largest capacity investments will be completed during 2023. And there are clearly no new major capacity investments in Norway as this has been put on hold due to the resource and tax. Therefore, the CapEx level will be reduced going forward, and it will be associated with the maintenance CapEx. We have previously communicated that the new level of maintenance CapEx will be around NOK 3 per kilo. When we consider what we have spent on interest and lease payments in the period, we end up with NOK 15.7 billion in NIBD, including leasing at the end of Q3 2023. This is a reduction of NOK 2.0 billion beyond the effect of the sales of assets in the period.
As mentioned in the previous quarterly presentations, we will provide an update on the realization of synergies from the acquisition of NTS NRS and SalmoNor throughout 2023. We anticipate that this will be the second to last time we present this graph as it will no longer be necessary after 2023. This does not mean that SalMar cost focus will change, but rather by the year-end, we will have an even more efficient SalMar. By the end of the third quarter, we can report that 75% or NOK 635 million of NOK 844 million in annual cost savings has already been realized. Estimated restructuring costs to achieve this remain unchanged. These amounts represent annual recurring savings related to optimal operational structure, increased efficiency and economies of scale.
As known, some of the potential will take time to be reflected in the P&L. So it is good to note that the improvements are already starting to have effect in the figures for Q3, where the difference in cost between old summer and merged companies is decreasing. It's all about utilizing the potential in our shared resource space, such as other licenses and facilities in the value chain. The improvement in license utilization has continued into September and ongoing assessments are being made for further improvements in production plants. This may affect volume in a short term, but is necessary to facilitate increased volume over time. Frode will provide specific details on volume shortly.
As an example of other initiatives to optimize the value chain, we have sold SalmoNor Settefisk during the period. This was considered and concluded to be reasonable considering other capacities. As part of the optimization of the value chain, we have also transferred Arctic offshore farming to SalMar Aker Ocean. This support increased strategic focus and consolidation of offshore farming expertise. It will also allow for optimal utilization of the units we have in operation. And with this, I'll come to the end of the financial update, and we would like to give the word back to Frode.
Thank you, Ulrik. As we mentioned before, SalMar is a growth company with a strong history and significant potential for further expansion. Step-by-step, we have reached new milestones in both volume and earnings. We have always taken action that fit operationally and strategically. And this has led us where we are today. The world's second largest salmon company with substantial plans for future growth. .
In the third quarter, we achieved yet another milestone. We have never harvested so much fish, and we have never had higher operating results from our operations here in Norway. Perhaps this is also the highest result in Norway in the industry measured in absolutely terms. While we have previously had the highest result measured per kilogram being the highest in absolute terms is another milestone for us in SalMar.
We will carry this momentum forward. As mentioned during the Capital Markets Day, we have significant organic growth potential without the need for major investments in the value chain. The investments made in the value chain in recent years will enable us to reach an annual harvesting volume of 362,000 tonnes within 3 to 4 years, as we said during the Capital Market Day. And this growth story would not have been possible without the strong strategic and operational focus we have in SalMar. Our entire business is built around the idea that salmon should drive and the salmon on the salmon terms, as we like to put it. Our vision, passion for salmon clearly demonstrates our commitment to this.
Recently, there have been several negative reports around fish welfare, mortality in the industry. But as an industry, we must be prepared to be scrutinized. Good fish welfare is crucial for success and is the main reason why SalMar has performed well over the long term. That's why SalMar has invested heavily in the entire value chain combined with the pursuit of the best locations in the recent years, all to give the salmon the best possible conditions to drive.
SalMar has solid metrics for fish welfare, and we know that we perform well in this aspect. But this is no reason to rest in our levels. We always strive to improve because we understand that good biology equals good economics. Therefore, this will continue to be our primary focus, operating on the terms of the salmon. We aim to lead in this area. Salmon is already one of the most sustainable animal proteins, and we will continue to make the industry even more sustainable. At SalMar, we are and will continue to be proud producers of healthy Norwegian sustainable food salmon. There is a strong market for salmon out there, and we are to succeed in providing our product to customers worldwide. We must leverage the potential we have. That's why we plan to increase our volume in 2024 and beyond.
We expect a significant increase in volume in 2024 as we begin to realize our potential. In Norway, we anticipate a production of 257,000 tonnes an increase of 18,000 tons or 8%. This is where we will start to tap into the potential of our licenses. As Ulrik just showed you, the MIB utilization is approaching 100%, and we aim to strengthen this further in 2024. Offshore, we expect 7,000 tonnes an increase of 3,000 tonnes. This will be the third harvest from Ocean Farm 1, which we plan to complete in early 2024. And towards the end of '24, we anticipate another round from Arctic offshore farming. In Iceland, we anticipate 15,000 tonnes, a reduction of 3,000 tonnes. As mentioned, the biological challenges we faced in Q4 will affect the growth into '24. However, we still have a value chain in place to support further volume increase in Iceland.
For Scottish Sea Farms, we expect 37,000 tonnes, an increase of 12,000 tonnes. This is a significant jump from '23, which has been challenging. As mentioned, we are implementing various measures to improve the performance in the U.K. In total, we expect to harvest 298,000 tonnes, taking into account our relative share in the U.K. This represents a 9% increase from '23, which amounts to a total of 25,000 tonnes increase. However, we are also interested in further growth beyond the organic potential we have identified.
As mentioned, our development must be based on the conditions for the salmon. This is particularly evident in our offshore and diverse. By developing technology that enables operations in areas with optimal biological conditions, we aim to take the industry further out into the ocean, the natural habitat of the salmon. Due to regulatory uncertainty, SalMar Aker Ocean has decided that further work on offshore farming in Norway is currently on hold. To advanced industry, we need stable, predictable and sustainable framework conditions. This includes aspects such as taxation, area, licenses and more. SalMar Aker Ocean will now consist our two semi offshore units within their current production areas. Ocean Farm 1, which operates on the coast of Trondelag and Arctic offshore farming which operates the coast of Troms. The company will now focus fully on utilizing the capacity of these units and continue to grow semi offshore through the production of sustainable Norwegian salmon. Additionally, we will explore opportunities outside of Norway.
Now let's turn towards the conclusion and the outlook for the future. The latest estimates for '23 indicate that there is no expected supply growth globally for this year. For '24, supply growth is anticipated to be positive but still relatively low. We continue to observe strong demand for our products in markets worldwide. In this situation, SalMar is equipped for significant growth. We also have several options for further expansion and untapped potential within existing licenses in all regions.
Our job is to ensure that both people and fish drive and to leverage the robust platform we have in SalMar. As I mentioned before, we need to work with both heart and mind to achieve this. I am confident that our talented workforce and the strong culture we have at SalMar will unlock the potential for further sustainable growth in Norway, Iceland and Scotland.
I have covered the guidance for the fourth quarter and volume expectations for 2024, as summarized on the right side of the slide. With this, we have come to the end of the presentation. Thank you for your attention. Our next presentation will be in February. And I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday season and celebration when the time comes. And of course, remember to enjoy plenty of delicious salmon also in the Christmas time. Thank you very much.