AKVA Group (AKVA) CMD 2025 summary

Strategic vision and industry context

• Focus on pioneering technology and innovation to address industry barriers and enable sustainable growth in salmon farming.

• Industry faces regulatory, environmental, and financial headwinds, but expects renewed growth from 2025, supported by new Norwegian regulation.

• Key growth drivers include deep farming, post-smolt strategies, land-based production, and digitalization/AI-driven precision farming.

• Targeting 5% annual global salmon production growth to double output by 2040, requiring significant investment and stable regulatory frameworks.

• Emphasis on ESG, with technology reducing fish mortality and environmental impact.

Business platforms and technological innovation

• Operates across sea-based, land-based, and digital platforms, each with leading technology and recurring revenue streams.

• Deep farming (Nautilus) submerges cages to reduce sea lice, improve fish health, and increase production, with 80%+ reduction in lice treatments and halved mortality.

• Post-smolt production and land-based RAS/reuse technologies are commercially viable, especially in China and Iceland, with a NOK 1.4bn order backlog.

• Digital solutions (FishTalk, Observe, Submerge, Connect) enable precision feeding, automated monitoring, and cloud-based analytics, supporting efficiency and sustainability.

• Service and after-sales business is expanding, driven by increased installed base, complexity, and high customer retention.

Financial guidance and growth targets

• Revenue target of NOK 5 billion by 2027 (12% CAGR from 2024), with ambition to reach NOK 7 billion and >10% EBIT margin by 2030.

• EBITDA margin targeted at 14% in 2027, up from 11% in 2024, with EBITDA projected to nearly double from NOK 381m in 2024 to ~NOK 700m in 2027.

• EBIT margin to improve from 5% in 2024 to 9% in 2027, driven by operational leverage and segment growth.

• CapEx intensity to decline to ~4% of revenue as platforms are fully invested, focusing on capital-light, organic growth and improved ROACE from 8% in 2024 to 20% by 2027.

• Dividend policy reinstated, aiming to return 40%-50% of cash flow after CapEx to shareholders.