Camanchaca processing facilities. (Photo: Camanchaca)

Low salmon prices push Camanchaca to the red

The drop in salmon prices is the main cause for which Compañía Pesquera Camanchaca closed September with a cumulative loss of USD 12.7 million, compared with a profit of USD 10 million in the same period in 2014.

The company explained that the Salmon business had a loss of USD 13 million, compared with a profit of USD 11 million in the first nine months of 2014.

Instead, the Fishing business obtained revenues of USD 2.1 million thanks in part to the extraordinary effects from insurance payments related to the earthquake in April 2014 in Iquique. This result contrasts with a loss of USD 1 million at the end of September 2014.

The delay in the start of the fishing season, coupled with problems in ports and customs that affected shipments, delays in the sale of inventories and the lower price of salmon led to a decrease of 9.8 per cent in revenue.

The company reported revenues totaling USD 318 million through September, with declines in all businesses: Fishing (-12.8 per cent), Salmon (-7.6 per cent) and Harvests (-14.5 per cent).

EBITDA before fair value was USD 24 million as of 30 September this year, representing a decrease of USD 19 million compared to the same period in 2014 and a drop of USD 13 million in gross margin.

With regard to catches, Camanchaca experienced different situations.

On the one hand, the company captured the entire horse mackerel quota in the southern-central area, but sardine catches decreased by 38 per cent over the previous year due to a quota cut.

Anchovy catches also declined: they were 27 per cent lower than those in 2014 due to the large presence of juvenile fish early in the season and the oceanographic conditions associated with El Niño phenomenon.

Meanwhile, fishmeal and fish oil sales were down by 24 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively, compared with those recorded in the first nine months of last year. This is explained through lower catches and slower speed in the sales of inventories, "mainly due to market reluctance to take positions at high prices."

The price increase of 9.6 per cent was not enough to offset lower sales.

As for salmon, the lower results are a direct consequence of the lower prices, which could not be offset by cost reductions.

Camanchaca explains that "the decline in prices was widespread in the world, which is explained by a decrease in the demands expressed in dollars, which is an effect of the sharp devaluations in several important target markets."

The effect of fair value was negative at USD 17 million, in contrast to the positive USD 580,000 in 2014.

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Address:	El Golf 99 - Piso 10
City:	Las Condes
State/ZIP:	Santiago de Chile
Country:	Chile
Phone:	+56 2 363 5700
Fax:	+56 2 426 0440
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