A best in a decade biological performance by SalMar ASA’s sea-based operations in the first-quarter of 2026 brought a solid set of financial results for the Frøya, Norway-headquartered salmon producer.
Delivering SalMar’s Q1 2026 report, SalMar CEO Frode Arntsen said the improved biology in Norway, with gains made in the survival rate, growth, superior share, and average weight, formed a solid foundation for the year. Based on these key indicators, he advised that the group had increased its full-year harvest guidance by 12,000 gutted weight tons (GWT) to 330,000 GWT.
To achieve this 10 percent growth on 2025’s total, it’s projecting that 282,000 GWT will come from its Norwegian salmon farming operations, 5,000 GWT from its offshore farming arm – SalMar Ocean – 21,000 GWT from Iceland, and the remainder from its 50-percent share of joint-venture Scottish Sea Farms.
“We are now truly beginning to realize some of the volume potential in our value chain, and we expect further volume growth in the years ahead,” Arntsen said.
According to the report, SalMar’s operational EBIT in Q1 2026 hit NOK 1.51 billion (USD 162.8 million, EUR 140.3 million), up from NOK 798 million (USD 86 million, EUR 74.1 million) in Q1 2025. Its operating revenues in Q1 2026 were NOK 6.5 billion (USD 700.6 million, EUR 604 million), versus NOK 5.2 billion (USD 560.5 million, EUR 483.2 million) in Q1 2025. It harvested a total 60,300 GWT of salmon, up from 42,700 GWT previously.
SalMar’s Norwegian salmon harvest amounted to 56,300 GWT in the first-quarter, representing an increase of 15,900 GWT year-on-on-year. Operational EBIT per kilogram increased by NOK 6.20 (USD 0.66, EUR 0.57) to NOK 27.30 (USD 2.94, EUR 2.53), giving the region an EBIT of NOK 1.54 billion (USD 166 million, EUR 143.1 million) – an increase of NOK 684 million (USD 73.7 million, EUR 63.5 million).
Including its Icelandic Salmon and Scottish Sea Farms interests, the group’s overall harvest for the period was up 17,600 GWT to 60,300 GWT, while the operational EBIT per kilogram increased by NOK 6.40 (USD 0.68, EUR 0.59). Overall operational EBIT also increased by NOK 714 million (USD 76.9 million, EUR 66.3 million), reaching NOK 1.51 billion (USD 162.7 million, EUR 140.3 million).
However, the farming results from both Iceland and Scotland were “weak,” driven by high costs across the value chain in both companies, Arntsen explained.
Icelandic Salmon harvested 3,700 GWT in Q1 (up from 1,100 GWT a year previously), while the joint-venture Scottish Sea Farms delivered 5,400 GWT (down from 8,400 GWT).
SalMar Ocean reported a strong biological performance at Ocean Farm 1 in Central Norway, with harvesting getting underway late in the first-quarter and the remaining volume to be harvested in Q2 2026. As such, its Q1 2026 operating revenues amounted to NOK 29 million (USD 3.1 million, EUR 2.7 million), down from NOK 85 million (USD 9.2 million, EUR 7.9 million) in Q1 2025. As a result, its operational EBIT represented a loss of NOK 22 million (USD 2.4 million, EUR 2 million), versus a loss of NOK 19 million (USD 2 million, EUR 1.8 million) in the corresponding period of 2025.
With regards to the segment’s Arctic Offshore Farming venture, notification was given by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries in March this year regarding the conversion of development licenses corresponding to 6,112 metric tons (MT) of maximum allowable biomass (MAB) into ordinary aquaculture licenses. SalMar has since paid NOK 130 million (USD 14 million, EUR 12.1 million) related to this, with the licenses will be included in production area 11 in Northern Norway.
Meanwhile, the profitability of SalMar’s Sales & Industry segment, which sells all the fish that SalMar harvests in Norway, was impacted by an upgrade of the InnovaMar facility – its largest harvesting a processing facility.
“This affected value chain costs financially, as we relied on more external harvesting facilities and were not able to handle all the fish scheduled for harvesting and processing in the most optimal way,” Arntsen said. “However, this was a necessary upgrade in order to increase capacity and enable us to harvest, process, and sell our salmon even more efficiently going forward.”
Sales & Industry generated gross operating revenues of NOK 6.36 billion (USD 685.6 million, EUR 590.8 million) in the first-quarter 2026, compared with NOK 5.2 billion (USD 560.5 million, EUR 483.2 million) in the corresponding period of last year. It delivered an operational EBIT loss of NOK 131 million (USD 14.1 million, EUR 12.2 million) in the period, versus gains of NOK 91 million (USD 9.8 million, EUR 8.5 million) previously.
SalMar’s report also states that in line with its untapped organic growth, the group has an estimated volume potential of 316,000 GWT in Norway, 13,000 GWT from SalMar Ocean, 26,000 GWT from Iceland, and 45,000 GWT from Scottish Sea Farms (on a 100 percent basis). Overall, this implies a total volume projection for the group of 378,000 GWT, including relative share from Scottish Sea Farms.