OSLO: Norway’s largest privately owned salmon exporter, Coast Seafood, once again achieved a record revenue in 2015.
In 2014 Coast saw revenues reach NOK 3.1 billion ($380 million), up 2% year-on-year. Based on its 2014 revenue, it placed as the 73rd-largest seafood firm in the world, in Undercurrent News’ Top 100 report. A year later revenues were up 8%, to NOK 3.304bn. Operating profit rose from NOK 60.2m to NOK 70.7m in 2015.
Net profit rose 25% to NOK 47.87m, after the firm was able to cut operating expenses by almost NOK 10m, as well as raising sales. Coast founded and led by CEO Sverre Soraa and deputy CEO Martin Ovrebo — had seen operating profit and net income fall between 2013 and 2014, so this turnaround to take advantage of continuing revenue increases will be of great satisfaction.
The firm told Undercurrent News it planned to “heavily invest” in value-added products (VAP) in 2015. The seafood exporter owns a 23% share in Sotra Fiskeindustri, outside of Bergen, which carries out the harvesting and packing of whole salmon, as well as processing and smoking for Coast.
“Over the past years we have invested in value adding, and we see that we sell more and more of these products,” Soraa said in 2015. “The popularity of such products is clearly increasing, both for domestic consumption and for export.”
Developing new products and segments can take time, and is a long- term priority for the company, he said, but 2015 would see a new investment plan put into the factory.Soraa said the plan would be geared towards allowing Coast to more precisely respond to exactly what its customers want.
Meanwhile, Coast has just hired an executive from Norway-based Fish Pool. Francois Perrone has worked as desk manager at the exchange for ten years, and will now move to Maloy to join Coast.
