SalMar ASA (SALM) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of SalMar's results for the second quarter of 2026. My name is Frode Arntsen. I'm the CEO of SalMar. And with me today, I have our CFO, Ulrik Steinvik. I hope you all had a pleasant summer vacation this summer. For those of us living along the coast from Møre and northwards in Norway, I cannot quite say the same. Summer never really arrived, and we have experienced long periods of truly poor weather. However, although we have not seen much sunshine, the weather has been fantastic for our salmon. A cool and rainy summer has created excellent growth conditions for our salmon and is one of the factors contributing to the record strong biological performance that continued through the second quarter and into the third quarter. Once again, SalMar delivers good biological and operational performance. This does not happen by itself. It is the result of continuous improvements and action we take throughout the value chain to ensure that our salmon thrive as much as possible. And it is all our employees who make this possible. Working at SalMar is not just an ordinary office job. I know that many people dedicate themselves around the clock, driven by genuine passion and a deep commitment to our salmon, our people, our facilities and the communities of which we are a part. Thank you all for the work you do and for your dedication day and night, enabling Ulrik and myself to stand here today and present these results. Today's presentation will follow our familiar agenda. I will take you through the key highlights for Q2 and provide an update on the various segments before CFO, Ulrik, presents the financial update. Finally, I will discuss the acquisition of the majority stake in Måsøval before concluding with our increased volume guidance for 2026 and our outlook. And I have to begin with a record strong biological performance that continued in the second quarter and into the third quarter. On the screen, you can see the maximum and minimum values from the past 10 years across a number of biological key performance indicators. As you can see, the first 7 months of 2026 have been significantly stronger than previous years for SalMar. Compared with the average of the last 10 years, the mortality is 40% lower. The growth is 33% higher and the superior share is 9 percentage points higher. Compared with last year, the picture is equally strong. We can, therefore, confidently say that 2026 has so far been a record year biological. There is no single explanation. The reality is that many factors contribute. Genetics, smolt quality, vaccines, production technology and production strategy, feed strategy and many other elements all help explain these improvements. They are the result of work over a long period and our constant ambition to operate on the salmon's terms. I'll now move into the results for the different segments, starting with some highlights. For Norway as a whole, we harvested 71,500 tonnes at a margin of NOK 17.2 per kilo. The Norwegian operations delivered operational EBIT of NOK 1,227 million. Including Icelandic Salmon and SalMar Ocean, we harvested 81,800 tonnes during the quarter and generated an operational EBIT of NOK 1,237 million, corresponding to a margin of NOK 15.1 per kilo. Harvest volume reached a record high during the quarter, although an unfavorable harvest profile negatively impacted earnings for the period. Profitability in Sales & Industry improved, driven by higher capacity utilization at our facilities, improved operational KPIs following the upgrade of InnovaMar and strong sales performance during the quarter. Successful completion of the production cycle at Ocean Farm 1, once again delivering strong biological performance. Results from Iceland and Scottish Sea Farms were weak, driven by high costs throughout the value chain in both companies. Based on the biological performance we have experienced so far, we are increasing our volume guidance for Norway in 2026 by a further 20,000 tonnes. Guidance for all other segments remains unchanged. We now expect total harvest volume in 2026 at 350,000 tonnes, representing an increase of 49,000 tonnes or 16% compared with 2025. At the same time, we are seeing lower cost per kilogram and expect a reduction in cost during the third quarter. As many of you will have seen, we announced in July that we had reached an agreement with Heimstø to acquire its 70% ownership stake in Måsøval. I will return to this topic later. Before doing so, I would like to provide a little more detail through our operational update. Starting as normal with Central Norway. We harvested 38,900 tonnes during the quarter and delivered an operational EBIT of NOK 426 million, corresponding to EBIT per kilogram of NOK 10.9. Harvest volume increased significantly compared with the same period last year, while biological performance remained strong throughout the quarter. The majority of the harvest volume came from the spring '25 generation, and we also commenced harvesting of the autumn '25 generation as a result of strong biological performance. Cost levels were higher than in Q1, but lower than in the corresponding period last year. Following our last presentation in May, we experienced outbreaks of ISA at 2 sites, which were harvested during June. This had a negative impact on both cost and price realization during the quarter. In addition, most of the harvest volume was realized in June, which also negatively affected price realization. The biological status in Central Norway remains good, and we will continue harvesting both the spring '25 and autumn '25 generation during the third quarter. We expect costs to be lower in Q3 compared with Q2. At the same time, we expect harvest volumes in Q3 to be significantly higher than in the corresponding quarter last year. As a result of the strong biological performance, our 2026 volume guidance for Central Norway is increased by 5,000 tonnes up to 167,000 tonnes. In Northern Norway, we harvested 32,600 tonnes during the quarter and delivered an operational EBIT of NOK 632 million, corresponding to EBIT per kilogram of NOK 19.4. Biological performance in Northern Norway continues to be very strong. During Q2, we harvested fish from both the autumn '24 and spring '25 generations. Harvesting costs declined compared with Q1 and were also lower than in the corresponding quarter last year. However, an unfavorable harvest profile with significantly volumes harvested in June when market prices were at their lowest had a negative impact on earnings. Looking ahead, the biological status remains good, and we will continue harvesting the spring '25 generation during the third quarter. We expect cost levels in Q3 to be broadly in line with those reported in Q2. Harvest volumes in Q3 are expected to be significantly higher than in the corresponding quarter last year. Similar to Central Norway, we are increasing our '26 volume guidance for Northern Norway. Guidance is increased by 15,000 tonnes, up to 135,000 tonnes. Moving to SalMar Ocean, where we harvested 4,800 tonnes during the quarter and delivered operational EBITDA of NOK 75 million, corresponding to EBITDA per kilogram of NOK 15.7. Ocean Farm 1 completed harvesting in May. And once again, the production cycle delivered strong biological performance, characterized by low mortality, strong growth and no sea lice treatments. The next production cycle at Ocean Farm 1 will commence at the end of August, beginning of September, and we expect approximately 5,000 tonnes to be harvested in the second quarter of 2027. In addition, as you know, the development licenses for Arctic Offshore Farming have now been converted and are included as a part of our ordinary production capacity in Northern Norway. And I can also mention that by the end of Q2, these licenses were being fully utilized within our Northern Norway Farming segment. The Sales & Industry segment delivered operational EBIT of NOK 219 million. Profitability improved significantly compared with the previous quarter, driven by higher capacity utilization across our facilities during the period. The first quarter was impacted by the temporary closure of InnovaMar due to upgrade activities. We are now seeing improved operational efficiency following the completion of the upgrade, which has also contributed positively to profitability. We are also seeing very strong efficiency at InnovaNor. The facility is currently setting some truly impressive records for throughput volume, both during the second quarter and now into the third quarter. Good contribution from both spot and contract sales in the period. The contract share was 35% during the quarter, despite the price achievement being negatively affected by the harvest profile in the period. Demand for our products remains very strong, something that you, as analysts, can clearly see in the export statistics. It is also something we experience every day in our interactions with customers around the world. What we hear from customers is that salmon is a strategically important product that customers need. As a result, we have already started securing contracts for 2027 as customers want to ensure future access to supply. We, therefore, maintain a positive view of the market. Even though SalMar is increasing its volume guidance, analyses from several market participants indicate that most of the expected global volume growth for 2026 has already been materialized. This is also positive for overall market dynamics. The contract share is expected to be around 25% in third quarter and approximately 35% for the full year 2026. Going over to the Westfjords in Iceland, where we harvested 5,500 tonnes during the quarter and reported an operational EBIT of minus NOK 35 million, corresponding to EBIT per kilogram of minus NOK 6.3. Harvest volume reached a new record for a second quarter in Iceland and price achievement was strong during the period. However, earnings were unfortunately weak due to the cost level, which continues to be impacted by the biological challenges we experienced earlier in 2026. Production performance in Iceland has been good during the quarter and the biological status of the fish planned for future harvest is also good. As a result, we expect lower cost levels going forward. At the same time, we expect significantly higher harvest volumes in Q3 compared with the same quarter last year. Our 2026 volume guidance remains unchanged at 21,000 tonnes. Finally, I would like to mention that the parliamentary process related to the new regulatory framework for aquaculture in Iceland, which had originally been expected in June, has been postponed. We continue to engage closely with the authorities to help establish a regulatory framework that enables the Icelandic aquaculture industry to realize its full potential. And now to our associate company in Scotland, Scottish Sea Farms. During the quarter, Scottish Sea Farms harvested 8,100 tonnes and delivered an operational EBIT of NOK 8 million, corresponding to EBIT per kilogram of NOK 1.0. As expected, harvest volumes were low during the quarter, which had a negative impact on costs throughout the value chain. However, the company reports a positive biological status in sea and expects significantly higher harvest volumes in the second half of 2026. The volume guidance for '26 remains unchanged at 43,000 tonnes. With that, I have reached the end of the operational update, and I would like to hand over to Ulrik, who will take you through the financial results.

Thank you, Frode, and good morning to all of you. In SalMar, our ambition is simple: to create long-term shareholder value through operational excellence, financial strength and profitable growth. And during the second quarter, we delivered on all those 3 pillars. We increased harvest volumes, strengthened our balance sheet and announced the acquisition of Måsøval. At the same time, operational performance continued to improve through stronger biology and a lower underlying cost. In many ways, the second quarter reflects the strength of the platform we have built. Our biological performance reached new record levels. Harvest volumes were the highest ever in the second quarter, and we continue to see the benefits of years of operational improvement initiatives across the value chain. As a result of the continued improvement in biological KPIs, we are increasing our 2026 harvest volume guidance by an additional 20,000 tonnes. There was some negative timing impact on price achievement during the quarter, mainly because a larger share of volumes was harvested towards the end of the period following the conversion of the Arctic Offshore Farming licenses and the increased growth in the second half of the quarter. However, that negative impact on the price achievement does not change the underlying picture, and the underlying trends remain clear. SalMar is growing, the costs are improving, and our financial position continues to strengthen. Let me take you through the details, and I will start with the profit and loss statement. Looking at the top right section of the slide, operational EBIT declined by NOK 276 million compared with the first quarter from NOK 1,512 million to NOK 1,237 million. Higher harvest volumes contributed positively by NOK 479 million. Price achievement had a negative impact of NOK 740 million, reflecting lower salmon market prices and an unfavorable harvest profile during the period with the majority of our volume harvested in June. On average, SalMar's price achievement declined by approximately NOK 10 per kilo from the first quarter, while sea salmon declined by NOK 14 per kilo over the same period. Contract sales, therefore, had a positive effect on realized prices, while the increased share of volume harvested towards the end of the quarter resulted in a negative timing effect as more fish was sold into the spot market when the prices were at the lowest in the quarter. As expected, costs across the value chain remained relatively stable during the quarter, although costs in Central Norway ended somewhat higher than anticipated when we reported the first quarter results in May. This was mainly due to harvesting of fish affected by ISA during June. Iceland and Ocean Farming contributed a combined positive effect of NOK 34 million, mainly driven by harvest -- higher harvest volumes in both segments. Turning to the profit and loss statement. I would like to comment on the first half of 2026 comparing with the same period last year. For the first 6 months of 2026, operational EBITDA reached NOK 3.8 billion and operational EBIT NOK 2.7 billion. This represents more than a doubling of earnings compared with last year. Measured per kilo, earnings improved by approximately NOK 7 per kilo to NOK 19.3 per kilo. Around NOK 5 per kilo is explained by lower costs, while approximately NOK 2 per kilo comes from improved price achievement. This is particularly noteworthy given that sea salmon prices for the first half of the year were approximately NOK 2 lower than the same period last year. And the message is, therefore, clear. Improved fish quality, higher volumes and lower costs are the key drivers behind the earnings improvement. And importantly, we expect cost to decline further going forward. Frode will return to this later in the presentation. Norwegian production tax and Icelandic resource tax amounted to NOK 191 million during the first half of the year. The NOK 42 million increase versus last year is explained by higher volumes and a higher production tax rate per kilo. Net fair value adjustments in the first half of the year were negative due to lower forward prices at the end of June. Income from associates was negative NOK 162 million, mainly due to negative fair value adjustments in Scottish Sea Farms. Net financial expenses amounted to NOK 597 million, NOK 80 million lower than last year, mainly reflecting lower debt levels and lower interest rates. Overall, this resulted in profit after tax of NOK 922 million and adjusted earnings per share of NOK 9.8, more than double the level achieved a year ago. Moving to the balance sheet. Total assets increased by only NOK 124 million from the previous quarter to NOK 57 billion, partly reflecting the conversion of development licenses related to Arctic Offshore Farming. The equity ratio declined to 34.5%, mainly due to the dividend of NOK 10 per share approved by the Annual General Meeting in June. Net interest-bearing debt was reduced by NOK 1.1 billion to NOK 19.1 billion. Consequently, our leverage ratio measured as net interest-bearing debt over EBITDA improved to 2.6. And as I have said before, this development is what we expected. Higher earnings combined with strict capital discipline are driving continued deleveraging, and we expect further improvement during the second half of the year. And now turning to biomass. Norwegian biomass increased by 2% year-on-year at industry level, while SalMar increased biomass by 7%. Once again, the data shows that SalMar is the main driver behind biomass growth in Norway, and this has consistently been the case since the beginning of 2025. Globally, biomass levels remain relatively stable. Given the long production cycle in salmon farming, this biomass growth is now becoming increasingly visible in harvest volumes as well. During the first half of the year, SalMar increased harvest volumes by 30%, whereas total Norwegian harvest volumes increased by only 5%. In other words, SalMar is not simply participating in industry growth, SalMar is driving the industry growth. And based on the performance we are seeing in our operations, we are, therefore, increasing our volume guidance for 2026 by a further 20,000 tonnes. Let's take a closer look at movements in net interest-bearing debt, including lease liabilities to financial institutions. We entered the quarter with net interest-bearing debt, including leases of NOK 20.6 billion. Operating cash flow remained strong, supported by EBITDA of NOK 1.8 billion. Tax payments during the quarter amounted to NOK 36 million. Working capital developments reduced debt by NOK 467 million. Net investments reached NOK 472 million. And as previously communicated, NOK 130 million relates to the conversion of the Arctic Offshore Farming development licenses. CapEx of NOK 361 million was mainly related to farming operations in sea and upgrades at InnovaMar. After interest payments and other items, net interest-bearing debt, including leases, ended at NOK 19.4 billion, representing a reduction of NOK 1.2 billion during the quarter. And please note that the dividend approved in June was paid in July and the NOK 1.3 billion cash outflow will therefore affect debt development in the third quarter. The world continues to change rapidly, and our objective is to remain ahead of both debt maturities and potential volatility in financial markets. And for that reason, several important financing initiatives were completed during the quarter. We issued 2 new 3-year bonds totaling NOK 2.75 billion and repurchased NOK 517 million of the bond maturing in January. In addition, we exercised extension options on our bank facilities. The result is a balanced maturity profile, strong liquidity and increased strategic flexibility. This means that we are improving leverage while at the same time, maintaining the capacity to pursue attractive growth opportunities such as the acquisition of Måsøval. At quarter end, available liquidity amounted to NOK 14.4 billion, including facilities available to partially owned subsidiaries. This quarter, I will finish with comments on costs. There is considerable discussion in the market today about rising feed ingredients prices and what they may mean for future farming costs. While feed prices remain important, we believe the discussion is often too narrow. Feed costs are only part of the equation. New technology, improved competence, alternative raw materials, biological improvements and operational efficiencies across the value chain all contribute to future cost development, and the numbers clearly support this. Looking at our numbers in Norway specifically, the standing biomass in sea has seen significant cost improvements. Cost per kilo of standing biomass declined by 4% last year and by 38% year-to-date at the end of June. If you look at the ongrowth cost per kilo, meaning the cost incurred on fish during the first half of '26 compared with the first half of last year, costs are down 12%. For comparison, they were down by 11% in the previous year-over-year period. As illustrated on the slide, approximately 1/3 of the cost reduction can be attributed to feed, while 2/3 come from other operational improvements. And this is an important point. While feed remains the single largest cost component, salmon farming is about much more than feed costs alone. A significant share of our cost base is fixed. Our job is, therefore, to ensure that the cost structure is optimally designed and then utilized as efficiently as possible. When strong biological performance is added on top of that, the result is a further reduction in overall production cost. And as mentioned earlier, reported costs in the profit and loss statement are down by approximately NOK 5 per kilo or around 7% compared with the first half of the last year. Importantly, the lower ongrowth costs achieved so far have not yet been fully reflected in earnings. And these savings remain embedded in the standing biomass and will gradually be recognized as fish harvested from sites stocked since 2025 entered the profit and loss statement. And this biomass carry a lower cost base, particularly in Central Norway, and will contribute to lower cost released from stock in the third quarter and further improvements in the fourth quarter. While feed price developments from the fourth quarter onwards remain uncertain, we are confident that continued operational improvements and reductions in other cost categories will offset a significant portion of any future increases in feed prices. And in short, even if feed price rise, we expect ongoing operational improvements to largely compensate for those increases. And with that, I reached the end of the financial update, and I'll hand the presentation back to Frode. Thank you.

Thank you for the update, Ulrik. We announced in July that we had entered into an agreement with Heimstø to acquire its 70% ownership stake in Måsøval at a price of NOK 39.5 per share. Måsøval is a well-established and well-managed company with strong roots in Central Norway. We share common roots on Frøya and Måsøval was shareholders in SalMar all the way back in 1991. Therefore, it was natural for us to be interested in the stake once Heimstø announced its strategic review of the holding. Following a constructive process leading up to the summer, we ultimately reached an agreement to acquire the stake from Heimstø. This is an opportunity we are genuinely excited about. At the same time, the transaction remains subject to necessary regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Based on previous experience, these processes can take some time, and we, therefore, do not expect completion before the beginning of 2027. Following completion of the transaction, we will also ensure that the remaining shareholders in Måsøval are given the opportunity to realize their shares at NOK 39.5 per share. However, this can only take place after we have completed the acquisition of Heimstø's stake. We believe this represents an exciting industrial opportunity that will further strengthen SalMar's position in Central Norway in one of our most important regions. Today, Måsøval operates in production area 5 and 6, 2 of the regions where SalMar already has operations. As illustrated on the map, Måsøval's footprint fits very well with SalMar's existing activities across the entire value chain in Central Norway. We also see significant potential for further development, both in terms of sustainable growth in the local communities where we operate and through the realization of synergies across the value chain. Together, we can optimize the utilization of licenses and farming sites, improve biological performance and reduce costs. Based on our experience from previous acquisitions, we currently estimate annual operational cost synergies of approximately NOK 300 million. Naturally, we will assess this in greater detail once the transaction has been completed, and we have full access to Måsøval's operations and financials. We are, therefore, very excited about this opportunity. We believe this acquisition has the potential to strengthen SalMar's value creation capacity for many years to come. However, completion of the transaction will take some time. In the meantime, we will focus on preparing to ensure an efficient and successful integration of Måsøval into SalMar. As we move towards the end of today's presentation, let me briefly summarize the key takeaways. As mentioned, we are increasing our volume guidance for Norway by 20,000 tonnes to 307,000 tonnes, where the majority of this increase has already been harvested and sold by the time we stand here today. Including the volumes we expect from our other business segments, this brings our total volume guidance for 2026 to 350,000 tonnes. This represents an increase of 49,000 tonnes, corresponding to growth of 16% compared with last year. As illustrated in the graph on the right-hand side, we are now beginning to realize a meaningful portion of the volume potential that exists within our value chain. Looking ahead, we see potential for a further increase of approximately 28,000 tonnes or 8% above our 2026 level, based on our existing value chain alone and without taking any contribution from Måsøval into account. Including Måsøval on published expectations, we are at 412,000 tonnes, an increase of 62,000 tonnes or 18% from the level in 2026. As highlighted throughout today's presentation, we remain positive about the outlook ahead. As discussed, biological performance remains very good, and we expect both lower cost and higher volume -- higher harvest volumes in the third quarter. I have already reviewed the guidance for the various business segments, and you can see a summary on the right-hand side of the slide. We expect global supply growth to remain modest for the remainder of the year compared with the stronger volume growth we saw during 2025 and in the early part of '26. At the same time, demand for our products continues to be strong. That brings us to the end of today's presentation. Thank you very much for your attention. Our next presentation will take place in November. Until then, I trust that all of you will continue to enjoy healthy, nutritious and sustainably produced salmon throughout the autumn. Thank you very much.