Grieg will change the culture – Altaposten

– The salmon we produced in Finnmark was of particularly good quality in the fourth quarter, says CEO Andreas Kvame in Grieg Seafood.

Grieg Seafood has for years tended to have at least one area that is going down results and fourth quarter of 2015 was no exception. Yet there is a leadership which for the first time in a long time seems to have fixed his eyes, and has decided to make major structural changes in the organization. Amendments to build a common culture and a structure that will collectively raise the company.

Must have common culture

– We currently farmed departments into four areas; Finnmark, Rogaland, Shetland and in Canada. And we have had at least four different cultures, if not more, said Kvame when he presented the financial statements for 2015 at Hotel Continental in Oslo yesterday.

He added that they have now started to build a common culture throughout the organization. For Finnmark part means that all staff functions are laid down and now rebuilt in Bergen.

Operating profit to the Company before biomass adjustments was NOK 43 million in the fourth quarter. It is significantly lower than in the same period in 2014 when net income was 130 million.

Profit before tax was NOK 166.7 million, compared with 256 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. 15 279 tonnes of salmon were harvested in the fourth quarter, compared with 15,941 tonnes in the corresponding quarter last year.

A feat

in the fourth quarter Grieg quite good results in three out of four regions. Rogaland, Finnmark and Canada gave all ten million or more in profit per kilo produced salmon. Best was Finnmark 10.80 kroner per kilogram.

The major expenditure item is in Shetland.

– Shetland is a disaster this quarter. It is a feat to lose over 17 per kg, admitted Andreas Kvame.

The reason for this poor result is partially in foreign currency because of the Norwegian krone has depreciated relative to the British pound, but this is not only explanation.

– We struggle in Shetland with weak production, not only in the fourth quarter, but also in the rest of 2015. It is especially algae and lice that have led to high mortality and weak growth, says Kvame.

in Shetland, the company initiated a rescue, including means that several sites are taken out of production and around 30 employees lose their jobs.

the most obvious choice for the company is doing is changing the production cycle from 24 months to 18 months. By increasing smolt size from the current about 110 grams to 200 grams will be able to cut down on the time salmon are in the ocean, and prone to infection and lice.