Frode Arntsen
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the presentation of SalMar's results for the fourth quarter of 2025. My name is Frode Arntsen, and I am the CEO of SalMar, and with me today we have our CFO, Ulrik Steinvik.
At SalMar, it always comes down to produce salmon on the salmon terms. 2025 has been a financially weak year for SalMar, but operationally and biologically, it has been a strong year, where we have managed to turn several parameters in a positive direction.
That is why it is good to present the numbers today, showing that several indicators are now pointing the right way, biologically, cost-wise, and in terms of financial performance. The engagement, effort, and passion our employees have shown in 2025 make me really proud.
We have had 1 to 1.5 year with many demanding situations, but our people always step up to ensure that SalMar succeeds. Around the clock, our employees work to ensure that our captain in the value chain, namely the salmon, has the optimal conditions to thrive.
This is now reflected in several key indicators. We have record-high biomass at sea with lower cost levels.
We harvest fish at the end of Q4 and in January with superior grades we haven't seen in 10 years. Mortality continues to fall, and our greenhouse gas emissions are significantly decreasing.
All these indicators show that the work being done is strong and is steering our ship in the right direction. Our focus is always forward.
We must always do better today than we did yesterday. That requires continuing and reinforcing the work SalMar has done since 1991, ensuring strong alignment with the environment in which we operate, we can optimize for fish, people, and value creation.
Today's presentation will follow the same order as before. I will take you through some highlights for '25 and Q4, as well as the various segments.
CFO Ulrik will then give the financial update. Finally, I will say a few words about SalMar celebrating 35 years and give you a glimpse of the journey we have been on, and we'll continue forward on.
In 2025, SalMar reached a milestone by harvesting 300,000 tonnes for the first time when including volume from associated companies. The total ended at 300,900 tonnes.
Financially, however, 2025 was a weak year for SalMar. This was due to the high share of downgraded fish in the first half, which led to lower prices, as well as global supply growth in '25 that pushed down market prices for salmon.
Underlying demand has remained strong, and we used the year actively to develop both new and existing markets, which gives us confidence going forward. Norway harvested more fish than ever, and the development in Northern Norway was particularly strong in '25, with growth and survival levels we have never seen before.
Sales and Industry delivered historically strong results, driven by high utilization of plants and raw materials throughout the year, as well as positive contributions from contracts. We also completed acquisitions: Knutshaugfisk became part of SalMar in January, and Vilskor in August, both strengthening our position in key areas.
Low market prices and biological challenges made '25 difficult for Iceland and Scotland, and both are expected to perform better in 2026, with increased volumes. Even though the year was financially weak, we still have a strong financial position with solid liquidity and a positive outlook.
The board proposed a dividend of 10 NOK per share for 2025. Operationally and biologically, '25 was a good year, reflected in several sustainability indicators moving the right way.
Fish survival increased by 2 percentage points, showing that the yearly work on fish welfare is paying off. At the same time, greenhouse gas emissions per kilo produced continue to fall.
In 2025, we had 41% lower emissions than in 2020. Few others in Norway achieve this, and we succeed by focusing on our largest emission source: feed, local processing, and logistics.
We also saw improvements in workplace safety, with fewer injuries leading to absence, even as activity increased and more people joined the company. This positive development is also being recognized externally.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, SalMar was ranked the world's most sustainable food and beverage producer out of over 8,000 companies analyzed globally. As long as we do things right, the industry has unlimited potential when we take care of fish, people, and the environment.
Now look closer at the Q4 results. In total for Norway, we harvest 80,300 tonnes at a margin of 23 NOK per kilo.
For the Norwegian operation as a whole, we delivered an operational EBIT of 1,843 million NOK. Including Icelandic Salmon and SalMar Aker Ocean, we harvested 84,100 tonnes in the quarter, with a result of 1,834 million NOK and a margin of 21.8 NOK per kilo.
We have lower cost levels, and the strong performance from our Norwegian farming segments continued into Q4, with high growth, good survival, and a high share of superior grade fish. Higher market prices reduced the contribution from Sales and Industry compared to the strong results earlier in the year.
Iceland is finally back in positive territory again, driven by lower cost levels. Unfortunately, Q4 was very weak for Scotland.
Volume guidance for 2025—sorry, for 2026 remains unchanged for Norway and Iceland, but we are reducing somewhat for Scotland. For 2026, we expect harvest volumes of 318,000 tonnes, an increase of 7,000 tonnes or 6%.
In Central Norway, we harvested 43,400 tonnes in the quarter, with an operational EBIT of 764 million NOK, corresponding to EBIT per kilo of 17.6 NOK. The autumn '24 generation is the one we harvested the most from during the period, and this generation has a lower cost level than earlier generations harvested this year.
Price achievement was somewhat soft in Q4 because we prioritized harvesting some small and weaker fish for fish welfare reasons, which affects average weight and therefore price achievement. However, this has not impacted growth or the current biological status of the fish in Central Norway.
The biological situation is good and significantly better compared at the same time last year, and we have to go back more than 10 years to find similar superior shares. Volumes in the first quarter will be significantly higher than last year.
In January, SalMar was the company responsible for the strong growth in Norwegian export volume, driven by harvests in Central Norway. We are very pleased with the cost development in Q4 and expect further down into 2026.
Volume guidance for '26 remains unchanged at 157,000 tonnes. In Northern Norway, we harvested 36,900 tonnes in the quarter, with an operational EBIT of 1,160 million NOK and EBIT per kilo of 31.5 NOK.
Q4 and '25 has been a very strong year for Northern Norway. We continued harvesting of a spring '24 generation and started with the autumn '24 generation.
We had positive cost development, good average weight, high superior share, strong growth, and high survival. Most of the volume was harvested early in the fourth quarter when prices were at their lowest.
Looking ahead, the biological status is good. We will finish harvesting spring '24 and continue with autumn '24.
Cost levels are expected to increase slightly from the very low level in Q4. Volumes in the first quarter are expected to be at the same level as last year.
Volume guidance for 2026 remains unchanged at 113,000 tonnes. For SalMar Aker Ocean, the operational EBITDA in the period was -11 million NOK.
Production on Ocean Farm 1, which started in August, is progressing very well with low mortality and good growth. We have not needed any sea lice treatment for this generation, despite high lice pressure in the region.
Conversion applications for the AOF licenses have been submitted, and we are awaiting responses. Volume guidance for the year remains unchanged at 5,000 tonnes.
Sales and Industry delivered an operational EBIT of -49 million NOK. After several very strong quarters, Q4 was somewhat weaker.
We continued to have high utilization of our harvesting plants, but the contribution from sales was weak. The low average weight from Central Norway affected spot sales returns, as smaller fish generate lower value.
Higher market price and high superior shares from farming segment resulted in higher input cost, impacting contributions from contracts and VAP division in the quarter. We also supported several large pre-agreed promotions for major contract customers in Q4.
While this reduces margins in the quarter, it helps increase long-term demand. Demand for our products remains very strong, and we experience this daily in conversations with customers worldwide.
We therefore have a positive view of the market entering 2026. In Q1, we expect lower volumes through our facilities due to seasonal patterns.
Contract coverage is around 50%. For the full year '26, we have secured approximately 35% of our volume at fixed prices.
The price level is somewhat lower than in '25, but still attractive, and we have maintained and increased volumes to major customers in Asia, US, and Europe. In Iceland, we harvested 3,800 tonnes in the quarter, delivering an operational EBIT of 31 million NOK and EBIT per kilo of 8.9—8.1, sorry, NOK.
It is good to see Iceland returning to positive results after starting to harvest the '24 generation, which has significantly lower cost levels than earlier generations this year. Price achievement was good, with a high average weight.
Looking ahead, we expect similar cost levels in Q1, with significantly higher volumes than last year. Volume guidance for '26 remains unchanged.
Our associated company in Scotland delivered a very weak result. Harvest volume in the quarter was 5,500 tonnes, with an operational EBIT of -186 million NOK and EBIT per kilo -33.8 NOK.
Volumes were expected to be low, but biological challenges at several sites caused by negative results. AGD, gill health issues led to event-based mortality.
Average harvest weight was also lower than in previous quarters, affecting both cost levels and price achievement. The biological situation for the moment is satisfying, and the biological performance improved towards the end of the quarter, but due to some challenges, the harvest volume for '26 has been reduced by 2,000 tonnes to 43,000 tonnes.
With this, I have reached the end of the operational update, and I would like to give the word to Ulrik who will give you the financials update.
Ulrik Steinvik
Thank you Frode, and good morning to all of you. We have now concluded yet another year, a year that overall must be described as a financial deviation in SalMar's history, but at the same time an end to the year that shows we are back on track, where we are experiencing improvements in biology, reduced costs, an efficient handling, and dynamic allocation and value creation of the salmon.
Made possible by discipline and a strong corporate culture based on that everything we do today shall be done better than yesterday. That is how we always have done it, and that is how we will continue in SalMar.
The consolidated financial results we present now for the fourth quarter are positively impacted by a lower cost level and the positive development we have seen in key figures for our biomass over an extended period. At the same time, we have a record-high biomass in the sea at the start of 2026 with lower cost and better biological status than we had one year ago.
As part of the financial update, I will at the end of my section comment on expected investments for 2026 before concluding with a proposal for the dividend for 2025. Now it's time to look at the numbers, and I will begin with some comments related to the profit and loss statement.
At the top right, we see that operational EBIT increased by 1,123 million NOK compared to the third quarter, from 711 million NOK to 1,834 million NOK. The change corresponds to an increase from 7.6 NOK per kilo to 21.8 NOK per kilo.
Lower volume reduced operational EBIT by 166 million NOK. The largest increase, 801 million NOK, is related to higher price achievement driven by increased market prices, where SeaSalmon for the fourth quarter increased by 17.2 NOK per kilo compared to the third quarter, and thereby came in above last year for first time in 2025.
Due to timing, low average weight in Central Norway, fixed-price contracts, and pre-agreed campaigns, we in SalMar did not experience the same change in price achievement, despite a higher share of superior quality in harvested biomass. SalMar's price achievement increased by about 10 NOK per kilo compared to the third quarter and therefore ended below SeaSalmon in the quarter.
As previously communicated and therefore as expected, we see lower cost out of stock across all our segments. Reduced cost contributed to 350 million NOK of the increase of the operational EBIT.
For Norwegian operations, this corresponds to a cost reduction of approximately 4 NOK per kilo compared to the previous quarter. We expect a further reduction in the costs going forward.
Iceland and Ocean contribute positively with 138 million NOK, mainly driven by the lower cost level achieved in Iceland. Moving to the profit and loss statement, we see operational EBITDA at 2,376 million NOK and operational EBIT, as mentioned, at 1,834 million NOK.
It is worth noting that operational EBIT generated in the fourth quarter amounts to nearly half of the annual operational EBIT of 3,867 million NOK, supporting the view that the first three quarters were deviations from the normal SalMar standard. Furthermore, we see that the production tax in Norway and resource tax in Iceland amount to 90 million NOK for the quarter, a reduction of 8 million NOK explained by reduced volume.
Non-recurring items reduced the result by 82 million NOK in the quarter and consist of costs related to litigations and settlements. Net fair value adjustments are positive due to reduced cost and improved biological status.
The fair value adjustment increases the result by 86 million NOK. Share of profit from associated companies was negative with 72 million NOK, mainly explained by negative both operational EBIT and net result from Scottish Sea Farms.
Net financial cost amounts to 334 million NOK, which is 183 million NOK higher than the previous quarter. The increase is explained by last quarter being positively affected by 220 million NOK due to financial transactions.
Underlying net financial cost is reduced in the quarter due to lower debt levels and lower interest rates. This results in a profit before tax of 1,342 million NOK for the quarter and profit for the period of 1,006 million NOK, provided adjusted earnings per share of 6.6 NOK per share.
For the year, earnings per share totaled 12.3 NOK per share. Moving to the balance sheet, we see that total assets increase by 124 million NOK from the previous quarter, reaching NOK 57.9 billion, a relatively small change in the quarter.
From the previous year, the increase of 3,512 million NOK is driven by acquisitions of Vilskor and Knutshaugfisk, as well as an increase in biomass in sea. Both in Norway and Iceland, we have higher biomass levels compared to both the previous quarter and the same quarter last year.
As shown in the bottom-left graph, total biomass in Norway across all companies increased by only 1%, with SalMar being the largest contributor. At end of 2025, we had 15% more biomass in the sea in Norway, with a cost per kilo that was 8% lower, supporting the foundation for increased volume and reduced costs going forward.
The equity ratio increased to 34.8% as a result of the positive net result after tax. Net interest-bearing debt is reduced by 803 million NOK to NOK 20.8 billion.
The debt ratio, NIBD/EBITDA, is reduced to 3.6. With improved earnings and strict discipline in use of capital, we expect debt and gearing to fall further going forward.
As mentioned earlier, our strategy is to be optimally and robustly financed at all times and ahead of maturities. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, we had NOK 10.1 billion in available liquidity in the group, also taking into account the credit facilities of the partly-owned subsidiaries.
As shown in the bottom-right graph, we have flexible financing diversified between bank and bonds, with two maturities coming up next year. We have sufficient liquidity to handle these maturities, and I can also mention that both the term loan and the revolving credit facility have extension options.
We are therefore not concerned about these maturities and have a clear plan for managing the financing at all times. Furthermore, I would like to mention that we are now initiating a strategic review of our ownership in Hellesund Fiskeoppdrett AS, where we own 33.5%, and we will return to the market later if we have any updates.
Let's look at the change in net interest-bearing debt, including leasing, during the quarter. We started with the NIBD, including leasing liabilities, of 23,266 million NOK.
During the period, we had a positive cash flow from operations, where EBITDA was NOK 2.3 billion. We paid NOK 6 million in taxes from a few smaller partly-owned companies.
Working capital build-up increased NIBD by 478 million NOK. Total investments amounted to 355 million NOK in the quarter.
Investments in fixed assets totaled 364 million NOK, mainly related to sea-based operations. CapEx discipline in SalMar is strong, and total CapEx for the year ended at 1,984 million NOK, 33 million NOK lower than we guided one year ago.
Including interest payments and change in leasing, we end at 22,549 million NOK in NIBD, including leasing, at the end of fourth quarter '25. In recent years, we have made significant investments, particularly in preventive technology against sea lice, which is believed to have contributed to improved biological results this past year.
As we enter 2026, nearly 50% of our sites are equipped with preventive technology. Having the right technology at the right site is crucial, and we will continue gaining experience before considering adjustments between sites or technologies.
The CapEx level for '26 is reduced by 880 million NOK compared to '25, down to 1,070 million NOK, aligned with previously communicated CapEx levels and organic growth. Total CapEx, approximately 700 million NOK or 2.5 NOK per kilo represents maintenance CapEx.
Among capacity investments, 200 million NOK in closed-net pens is the largest single project, and the investment is assessed to be sound. Several major and minor upgrades are also ongoing, particularly at InnovaMar, to ensure the facility remains efficient and competitive, thereby supporting optimal handling, allocation, and value creation of the fish.
As outlined in the review, '25 stands out as a deviation from our long-term financial performance trend. Entering '26, SalMar is in a stronger position, with a record-high biomass in sea, lower cost levels, and a sober CapEx level, positioning us for continued value creation.
The board of SalMar proposes cash dividend of 10 NOK per share for the '25 financial year, equal to an 81% payout ratio. This will, as usual, be subject to approval at our annual general meeting in June, with payment thereafter.
The proposed dividend is in accordance with SalMar's current dividend policy and in line with previous practice. With that, I have reached the end of the financial review and hand the word back to Frode.
Frode Arntsen
Thank you, Ulrik. 35 years ago, on the 8th of February 1991, SalMar was founded by Gustav Witzøe.
We started with eight employees in a small municipality in Norway on the island named Frøya, and had two small farming sites and one processing facility. Today, 35 years later, we have grown to become the world second-largest salmon producer with global reach.
It has been a fantastic growth story, made possible by local knowledge, built on the experience gathered from the generations before us, as well as competent, dedicated, and passionate employees who have managed to harness the potential. We have grown a lot over the last 35 years, but we still have an untapped potential, as the growing world population needs more sustainable food.
Even though we produce 2.5 billion meals in 2026, we are only able to give one meal to less than a third of the world's population for one day. Imagine the potential going forward.
It has also been a story of value creation for both local municipalities, suppliers, customers, and our owners. Since we were listed back in May 2007, SalMar has outperformed the rest of the Oslo Stock Exchange by close to 7 times.
This is no coincidence, where we operate a focused value chain to always make sure we do what is best for the salmon. By doing this, we, over time, gain the best biological, operational, and financial metrics.
We will not rest on our laurels. We have strong ambitions going forward and will continue to be the leading salmon farmer and tap further into the opportunities that lies ahead of us.
We have a positive outlook for the period ahead. The biological situation is good, and we must go back 10 years to find similar superior shares on the salmon.
We also have record-high biomass in both Norway and Iceland with lower cost levels, laying the foundation for increased volumes and strong performance. Guidance for the future has been reviewed and is summarized to the right on the slides.
After high global volume growth in 2025, we expect significantly lower global supply growth in '26, and demand for our products remains very strong. People need food, and more sustainable food, which we are able to produce 365 days a year thanks to SalMar's strong setup and employees with genuine passion for salmon.
We have then reached the end. Thank you for your attention.
Our next presentation is in May. Before then, I assume everyone will have salmon on the menu during both winter, Easter, and spring.
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