Strong Q3 continues Scottish Salmon Company’s successful year

The Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) is continuing to enjoy its strongest year since inception, with record year to date revenues and harvests.

SSC has reported quarter revenues of £33.6m, a rise of 82.6% on the same period last year. This follows record half-year results for the first six months of 2014. The year-to-date total of £95.1m is the Group’s best ever and a 56.2% increase compared with the same point in 2013.

Q3 has traditionally been challenging across the industry in recent years. However, a sustained period of warmer water temperatures this year, which continued through August and September, has contributed to strong biological growth. SSC harvested 8,779 tonnes during Q3, a 93.7% increase on 2013, and has revised its forecast for the year upwards to 30,000 tonnes.

The higher water temperatures have also resulted in higher mortalities and treatment costs. Combined with the remote locations of the sites harvested during Q3 and the continuing fall of spot prices, these have suppressed EBIT/kg, with Q3 EBIT/kg of £0.03. However, this was an improvement on the previous year’s figure of -£0.28. SSC has continued its dual approach of a market-led strategy and capital investment in order to meet such issues and continue and sustain the Group’s strong performance.

Its international marketing strategy has helped widen the export market, with SSC now selling to 21 countries and exports making up more than a third (36%) of revenues.

Managing Director Craig Anderson said:

“We are enjoying a record year at The Scottish Salmon Company, and this is built on the quality of our product, our guarantee of its provenance and Scottish origins, and our commitment to the people and places where we work.

“Q3 is a traditionally challenging period for the salmon industry, but this year we have seen record volumes and revenues from July to September. This has built on our record first half year, and our year-to-date revenues are more than 50 per cent higher than this time last year.

“The industry as a whole has been facing biological issues such as higher mortality. We are addressing this through a variety of measures such as collaboration with other producers, strict protocols and training and monitoring. This has increased costs at a time when the high volume of product on the market has driven down traded prices.

“I’m confident that we are well-placed to address these issues and sustain our exceptional performance this year and into the future. We have focused on building strong customer relationships and worked hard to increase our international market, and our investment programme is aimed at both making us more efficient and able to offer diverse new services to our customers.

“We have also continued our commitment to sustainability. This means caring for the environments in which we work and our impact there. And it also means providing job security in some of the more remote parts of Scotland, and contributing to local communities, be that through our continued support of local events or through programmes such as the learning and training programmes we run with local schools.”