Kingfish Company achieves higher production, revenue in H1 2023

Dutch land-based yellowtail kingfish producer The Kingfish Company recorded its best-ever harvest of 932 metric tons (MT) in the first half of 2023 and, amid high demand for larger-sized fish, saw its revenue for the period increase 31 percent year over year to EUR 11.2 million (USD 12 million).

By comparison, the company posted revenue of EUR 8.4 million (USD 9 million) in H1 2022 on the back of a 742 MT total harvest.

In H1 2023, The Kingfish Company achieved per-kilogram revenue of at EUR 15.10 (USD 16.22), versus EUR 12.00 (USD 12.89) in H1 2022.

Kingfish concluded its 58th production cycle in June 2023, and the company said its gross margin in the period increased 50 percent year over year to EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.6 million), equating to 13.9 percent of revenue, despite significantly higher input costs.

Kingfish’s H1 2023 operational earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to a loss of EUR 2.2 million (USD 2.4 million), which was the same as a year previously. Its EBITDA per kilogram was EUR -3 million (USD -3.2 million), which was up from EUR -3.1 million (USD -3.3 million) in the same period a year prior.

In August 2023, Kingfish received a boost when Maine’s Superior Court rejected an appeal of a challenge to permits granted to its expansion project in the U.S. state. In a press release, Kingfish Maine confirmed it remains a fully permitted project. Kingfish Maine aims to produce 8,500 MT of yellowtail using a recirculating aquaculture system in Jonesport, Maine.

Roque Island Gardner Homestead Corporation and Eastern Maine Conservation Initiative, the main opponents of the project have backed, Protect Downeast, which on 1 September circulated a letter citing the company’s borrowing history and cash burn rates in warning it ... 

Photo courtesy of The Kingfish Company