Austevoll Seafood ASA reported a 14% year-over-year drop in revenue to 8.69 billion Norwegian kroner for the second quarter of 2026, falling short of analyst expectations of 9.78 billion kroner. The Oslo-listed company cited severe disruptions in Peru’s anchoveta fishery due to El Niño conditions as the primary driver of the miss.
Adjusted EBITDA fell 12% to 1.16 billion kroner, while the group posted a net loss of 254 million kroner compared with a profit of 106 million kroner in the same period a year earlier. Operating profit turned negative at minus 484 million kroner, impacted by an 889 million kroner fair-value adjustment on biological assets. The company maintained its interim dividend at 6.50 kroner per share, with shares rising 0.78% to 84.10 kroner following the presentation.
Peru’s fishing season collapse was the quarter’s defining challenge, with Austral Group’s catch in the country falling to just 20% of its seasonal quota by June, down from 77% in 2025. National quotas were reduced to 1.9 million metric tons from 3.0 million metric tons, and fishing bans were imposed in May due to high juvenile fish volumes and elevated seawater temperatures. Total raw material intake across operations dropped 45% to 329,000 metric tons, with Peruvian raw material intake collapsing 85% to 34,000 metric tons.
In contrast, the whitefish segment delivered strong performance, with catch volumes rising 6% to 18,779 metric tons. Cod prices surged 24%, haddock increased 35%, and saithe jumped 42%, driving segment EBIT guidance for 2026 to 400–450 million kroner. The company projects cod and haddock quotas to increase by 10% and 18%, respectively, in 2027.
Pelagic operations showed mixed results. Pelagia Holding’s adjusted EBIT improved to 81 million kroner from a loss of 11 million kroner a year earlier, supported by North Atlantic pelagic quotas, though blue whiting and mackerel quotas fell 41% and 48%, respectively. Global fishmeal production through week 31 of 2026 declined 54% year-over-year, with Peruvian output down 72%, while fish oil prices surged from around $4,000 per metric ton in January to over $12,000 by July.
Management described the second fishing season in Peru as uncertain, dependent on El Niño conditions, and noted that whitefish operations had shown clear operational and financial improvements. The group reiterated its full-year 2026 farming volume guidance for salmon at 217,000 gutted weight tons, up from 212,000 in 2025.
