The fourth 2022 quarter cemented a record year for Mowi financially. For the first time in its nearly 60-year history, the company crossed the one-billion-euro earnings mark with operational profit for the full year reaching EUR 1,005 million. Revenue of EUR 4,946 million was also a new record for the company.
Mowi harvested a total of 464,000 tonnes in 2022, which was 4,000 tonnes more than guided one year ago. In Norway, harvest volumes reached a record-high level of 294,000 tonnes.
“I am pleased to see the tremendous progress we have made in Norway in recent years. An abundance of consistent hard work has propelled Mowi towards the top when it comes to license utilization and production efficiency in this country,” Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim said.
Mowi is among the leading employers in Norway, employing one in 300 of the Norwegian workforce. The company is afraid that its ambitions for continued growth in Norway will be severely inhibited by the government’s proposal to impose a resource rent tax on aquaculture.
“The Norwegian government’s proposal for an effective tax level of 62% for the Norwegian salmon-farming industry, or approximately 80% with a Norwegian wealth tax, will completely undermine future growth prospects for coastal Norway’s most critical industry. This industry currently employs 60,000 people in coastal communities, and at the end of the day, it is their livelihoods as well as future job creation that are being put in peril. Consequently, I sincerely hope that government and parliament will listen to the industry and wider coastal communities and choose a different tax rate and a tax model that is less devastating to the Norwegian aquaculture industry so that we can continue to invest in coastal Norway in the future,” said Vindheim.
Harvest volume guidance of 484,000 tonnes for 2023 represents an all-time high level and includes volumes from Mowi’s newest subsidiary, Arctic Fish in Iceland. This will equate to volume growth of as much as 109,000 tonnes in five years.
“It was with great pleasure that we received approval for the acquisition of 51% of the shares in Icelandic salmon farmer, Arctic Fish, just before year-end. Iceland is Mowi’s seventh farming country and was the last spot missing from our geographical footprint,” Vindheim said.
Mowi Consumer Products had another strong quarter and an outstanding year, setting both operational and financial records on good consumer demand and impressive operational performance.
Mowi Feed can also celebrate its best year so far with an operational profit of EUR 47 million. “Feed performance was very strong throughout 2022, which is of paramount importance to Mowi as the world’s largest salmon farmer. Feed production reached 515,000 tonnes for the year, an increase of 7% from 2021, and this is expected to grow further in 2023,” Vindheim said.
