High prices boost BioMar’s Q3 earnings, guidance raised

BioMar Group posted increased revenue for the third-quarter of this year, with higher market prices more than making up for lower sales volumes in the three-month period.

The Denmark-headquartered aquaculture feed supplier’s revenue for the last quarter increased by 41 percent, or almost DKK 1.7 billion (USD 238.2 million, EUR 228.5 million), to more than DKK 5.8 billion (USD 812.8 million, EUR 779.7 million). That revenue came from almost 444,000 metric tons (MT) of feed sold, a slight drop compared with the 453,000 MT sold in Q3 2021.

BioMar’s Q3 earnings before interest, taxes, debt, and amortization (EBITDA) for its consolidated companies increased 45 percent to DKK 403 million (USD 56.5 million, EUR 54.2 million), which the company said was driven by solid sales in the feed business, combined with strong results in the newly acquired acoustic feeding technology company AQ1.

Year-to-date revenue amounts to almost DKK 12.9 billion (USD 1.8 billion, EUR 1.7 billion) so far in 2022, compared with less than DKK 9.3 billion (USD 1.3 billion, EUR 1.3 billion) in the corresponding period of last year.

“Coping with the consequences of pandemic, followed by the war in Ukraine and our exit from Russia, our organization has focused on improving commercial and operational excellence,” BioMar Group CEO Carlos Diaz said.

He added that developing processes and creating value from data analytics has become more important than ever to counteract the inflationary effects on the group’s costs.

“We have been engaged in creating efficiencies in our supply chain, while working together with our customers designing new solutions for existing and new commercial relationships,” Diaz said. “We are still not at a normal profit level, but we are moving in the right direction.”  

The company said its earnings continue to be impacted by a lack of sales to Russia the need to replace raw materials sourced from Russia and Belarus. BioMar shut down all of its trade activities within Russia in March, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Despite the loss of Russia, based on the business results in Q3 and the improved prospects for the rest of the year, BioMar has raised its earnings guidance for 2022 to the range of DKK 960 million  to 1 billion (USD 134.5 to 140.2 million, EUR 129 to 134.4 million) – up from the previously advised DKK 910 to 960 million (USD 127.6 to 134.5 million, EUR 122.3 to 129 million) range.

“The world around us is still very volatile, but I strongly believe we will conclude 2022 on a positive note,” Diaz said. “It has been a year where we, despite challenges, have managed to expand our business with the world leading company for intelligent feeding, AQ1, and are progressing with business development plans in different geographies.”  

Photo courtesy of BioMar