Akva Group Stock price
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Key metrics
📘 Market Capitalization
📈 What is it?
Market capitalization shows how much a company is currently worth on the stock market.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps classify companies by size (Large, Mid, Small Cap) and indicates their market presence and relative stability.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Large-cap companies tend to be more stable, often pay dividends, but may grow more slowly.
- Smaller firms may offer higher growth potential but come with more volatility.
- Market capitalization is a useful indicator of company size — but not a measure of whether a stock is undervalued or overvalued.
📘 Enterprise Value (EV)
📈 What is it?
Enterprise Value represents the total cost to acquire a company — including its debt and excluding its cash reserves.
🧮 How is it calculated?
(= Market Cap + Net Debt)
🏛️ Why is it important?
EV gives a more complete picture of a company's value than market cap alone and is used in key valuation ratios like EV/FCF or EV/Sales.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Enterprise Value shows the true cost of buying a company, including all financial obligations.
- It is more accurate than just looking at market cap, especially when comparing companies with different levels of debt or cash.
- Professional investors prefer EV-based multiples because they better reflect the company’s full financial footprint.
📘 Net Debt
📈 What is it?
Net Debt shows how much debt remains after subtracting a company’s available cash reserves.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It indicates how dependent a company is on borrowed money and how easily it can service its debt in the short term.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Low or negative net debt signals financial strength and flexibility.
- Companies with strong cash positions are better positioned in crises.
- High net debt increases financial risk — especially in environments with rising interest rates or economic downturns.
📘 Cash
📈 What is it?
Cash represents all liquid assets a company can access immediately — including cash, bank deposits, and short-term investments.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It reflects a company’s financial flexibility and resilience — enabling investments, buybacks, or buffer in downturns.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A strong cash position means greater room for maneuver and crisis resistance.
- Cash-rich companies can invest, pay down debt, or repurchase shares.
- But excess idle cash might indicate a lack of growth opportunities.
📘 Shares Outstanding
📈 What is it?
Shares outstanding represent the total number of a company’s shares currently held by investors — excluding treasury stock.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It’s the basis for key metrics like Earnings Per Share (EPS), Market Capitalization, or the Price/Earnings ratio (P/E).
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Fewer shares in circulation typically increase earnings per share — making each share more valuable.
- Share buybacks reduce the number of shares and boost per-share metrics.
- Issuing new shares does the opposite — diluting shareholder value and lowering per-share figures.
📘 Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)
📈 What is it?
The P/E ratio shows how many times a company's earnings per share are reflected in its current share price — in other words, how "expensive" the stock appears relative to its profits.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The P/E ratio is one of the most widely used valuation metrics. It helps investors assess whether a stock appears cheap or expensive compared to its earnings power.
🧮 Calculation
📊 P/E (TTM) = Based on earnings from the last 12 months (Trailing Twelve Months):🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low P/E may indicate undervaluation — or signal underlying issues.
- A high P/E may reflect strong growth expectations — or an overvalued stock.
📘 Price-to-Sales Ratio (P/S)
📈 What is it?
The P/S ratio shows how much investors are paying for $1 of the company’s revenue – regardless of profitability.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
P/S is especially useful for evaluating growth companies or businesses not yet profitable. It reflects how the market values the company’s sales.
🧮 Calculation
Market Cap = kr5.21b | Revenue (TTM) = kr4.55b
Market Cap = kr5.21b | Estimated Revenue = kr4.71b
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low P/S may indicate undervaluation — or low profitability.
- A high P/S can reflect strong growth expectations — or excessive optimism.
- Especially helpful when evaluating companies where profits are low, volatile, or negative.
📘 Enterprise Value to Sales (EV/Sales)
📈 What is it?
EV/Sales shows how much investors are paying for $1 of revenue — considering not just equity, but also debt and cash. It’s the capital structure–adjusted version of the P/S ratio.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It’s ideal for comparing companies with different levels of debt. It reflects a company's true cost relative to its revenue.
🧮 Calculation
Enterprise Value = kr6.75b | Revenue (TTM) = kr4.55b
Enterprise Value = kr6.75b | Forward Revenue = kr4.71b
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- EV/Sales allows for capital structure–neutral company comparisons.
- A lower ratio may indicate undervaluation; a higher one may signal strong growth expectations or overvaluation.
- Especially helpful when evaluating high-growth companies with low or negative earnings.
📘 Enterprise Value to Free Cash Flow (EV/FCF)
📈 What is it?
EV/FCF shows how many years it would take for a company to "pay back" its enterprise value using its free cash flow.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It focuses on real cash generation, ignoring accounting noise — ideal for assessing profitability and value based on liquidity, not earnings.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low EV/FCF may signal undervaluation and strong cash generation.
- A high EV/FCF might reflect weak recent cash flow or aggressive growth expectations.
- Best suited for stable, mature businesses with predictable free cash flows.
📘 Price-to-Book Ratio (P/B)
📈 What is it?
The P/B ratio compares a company’s market value to its book value — showing how much investors are paying for each dollar of net assets.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
P/B is commonly used for asset-heavy industries like banks or industrials. It helps assess whether a stock is trading above or below its net asset value.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A P/B below 1 may signal undervaluation — or weak profitability.
- A P/B above 1 implies the market expects future value creation (e.g., brand, IP, growth).
- Best used for companies with tangible assets and strong balance sheets.
📘 Dividend per Share (DPS)
📈 What is it?
Dividend per Share shows how much cash a company pays out to shareholders for each share they own – usually on an annual or quarterly basis.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
DPS is the absolute value of the payout per share – crucial for income-focused investors and dividend strategies.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A stable or growing DPS often signals a strong, shareholder-friendly business.
- DPS alone doesn’t tell you how attractive the payout is – the stock price also matters (→ see Dividend Yield).
- Long-term dividend growth is often a hallmark of high-quality companies – like the dividend aristocrats.
📘 Dividend Yield
📈 What is it?
Dividend yield shows how large a company’s dividend is in relation to its current share price.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It allows investors to compare dividend payouts across stocks, regardless of price or payout size.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A stable yield can reflect reliable distributions.
- Comparing 1Y and 5Y yield shows whether dividend growth keeps pace with stock price appreciation.
- A low yield isn’t always negative – it can signal strong past performance or growth focus.
📘 Dividend Growth
📈 What is it?
Dividend growth shows how much a company has increased its dividend per share over time.
🧮 How is it calculated?
5Y: Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
🏛️ Why is it important?
Consistently rising dividends are often a sign of financial strength and shareholder orientation – especially relevant for long-term investors.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Stable dividend growth is a sign of sustainable earning power.
- High dividend growth can significantly boost your total return:
- If a company pays $1 in dividends and increases it by 15% annually over 5 years, you’ll receive $2 per share in year 5 – twice as much as at the start!
📘 Payout Ratio
📈 What is it?
The payout ratio shows what percentage of a company’s earnings (per share) is distributed to shareholders as dividends.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps assess whether the dividend is sustainable – especially in relation to the company’s profitability.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low payout ratio means the company retains more earnings for reinvestment – typical for growth companies.
- A moderate payout (e.g. 25–50%) indicates a healthy balance between returns and reinvestment.
- High payout ratios may seem attractive but can carry risk if earnings decline.
📘 Consecutive Dividend Increases
📈 What is it?
This metric shows how many consecutive years a company has raised its dividend per share – without any cuts or pauses.
🧮 How is it calculated?
(Special dividends are not considered.)
🏛️ Why is it important?
A long track record of increases reflects financial strength, consistency, and shareholder commitment.
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A long dividend increase streak builds confidence – especially in volatile markets.
- Such companies are seen as reliable and income-friendly investments.
- The longer the streak, the stronger the company’s dividend discipline.
📘 Revenue
📈 What is it?
Revenue shows how much a company earns in total from selling its products and services – the gross income before any costs are deducted.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Revenue is one of the key figures to assess a company’s size, market position, and growth potential.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growing revenue indicates rising demand and can be an early signal of future earnings growth.
- Comparing actual and expected revenue reveals trends in the market environment and analyst sentiment.
- Note: Strong revenue alone isn’t enough – margins and profitability matter just as much.
📘 EBITDA
📈 What is it?
EBITDA stands for “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.” It reflects a company’s operating profit before the effects of financing, taxes, and accounting depreciation.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBITDA is widely used to evaluate a company’s operating performance – especially across capital-intensive sectors or international comparisons.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high or growing EBITDA indicates strong operational profitability – independent of taxes, interest, or accounting methods.
- It’s especially useful for comparing companies across sectors or geographies.
- Important: EBITDA is not a net income figure – it excludes key costs like depreciation and interest.
📘 EBIT
📈 What is it?
EBIT stands for “Earnings Before Interest and Taxes.” It reflects a company’s operating profit after depreciation, but before interest and tax expenses.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBIT is a core profitability metric that shows how well the company performs in its main business operations – independent of capital structure and tax environment.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBIT indicates strong profitability from the company’s core business – before financial and tax effects.
- It allows better comparison between companies with different debt levels or tax structures.
- Compared to EBITDA, EBIT already accounts for depreciation and reflects capital intensity more clearly.
📘 Net Income
📈 What is it?
Net income is the company’s total profit – the amount left after all expenses, taxes, interest, and depreciation have been deducted.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net income is the most comprehensive measure of a company’s profitability – showing how much actual profit remains after all business and financing costs.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growing net income indicates that the company is managing all of its costs efficiently.
- It directly influences valuation metrics like P/E ratio and the company’s dividend capacity.
- Over time, net income trends reveal how resilient and profitable the business model really is.
📘 Free Cash Flow (FCF)
📈 What is it?
Free Cash Flow shows how much actual cash remains after a company covers its operating expenses and capital expenditures.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
FCF reflects a company’s real financial strength – regardless of accounting profits. It shows how much flexibility a company has for dividends, share buybacks, or debt reduction.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- High free cash flow means the company generates real, usable cash – independent of reported net income.
- It’s often the most reliable base for sustainable dividends and buybacks.
- Declining FCF can be an early warning sign – even when profits appear stable.
📘 Revenue Growth
📈 What is it?
Revenue growth shows how much a company’s sales have changed compared to the previous year – both on a trailing basis (TTM) and based on forward projections.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected revenue ÷ Revenue in prior year − 1) × 100
Forward growth is based on analyst estimates for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Rising revenue signals growing demand, business expansion, and market share gains – especially important for growth-oriented companies.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Growth is the engine of long-term value creation – especially in tech and growth sectors.
- What matters is not just current growth, but its sustainability.
- Forward projections reflect whether analysts expect continued momentum – or a slowdown.
📘 EBITDA Growth
📈 What is it?
EBITDA growth shows how much a company’s operating profit (before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) has increased or decreased compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected EBITDA ÷ EBITDA from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate is based on analyst projections for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Growing EBITDA indicates improving operational profitability – regardless of financing or accounting effects.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Strong EBITDA growth signals operational efficiency and scalability – especially during growth phases.
- EBITDA growth can be an early indicator of margin and earnings expansion – but should be assessed alongside revenue and EBIT.
📘 EBIT Growth
📈 What is it?
EBIT growth shows how much a company’s operating profit (after depreciation, but before interest and taxes) has increased compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected EBIT ÷ EBIT from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate is based on analyst projections for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
EBIT growth is a direct indicator of a company’s business performance – taking into account capital intensity through depreciation.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Rising EBIT signals improving operating profitability – even after accounting for depreciation.
- It’s especially important for evaluating companies with significant capital expenditures.
- Combined with revenue and EBITDA growth, EBIT growth provides a well-rounded view of operational progress.
📘 Net Income Growth
📈 What is it?
Net income growth shows how much a company’s bottom-line profit has increased or decreased compared to the previous year – both on a trailing basis (TTM) and based on analyst projections.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Forward = (Expected net income ÷ Net income from prior year − 1) × 100
The forward estimate reflects analysts’ expectations for the current fiscal year.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net income is the ultimate measure of profitability. Growing net income signals stronger efficiency, cost control, and sustainable earnings power.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Stronger net income boosts valuation, dividend potential, and investor confidence.
- If profits stall while revenue grows, it may signal margin pressure.
📘 Free Cash Flow Growth
📈 What is it?
Free cash flow (FCF) growth shows how a company’s available cash – after covering operating expenses and capital expenditures – has changed compared to the previous year.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Free cash flow reflects real financial strength. Growing FCF indicates more flexibility for dividends, share buybacks, and reinvestment.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Declining FCF may point to rising investments, increasing costs, or weaker operating performance.
- Especially for dividend investors, FCF growth is critical – since dividends are paid from actual available cash.
- A negative trend isn't always bad, but it deserves closer attention.
📘 Gross Margin
📈 What is it?
Gross margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains after deducting the direct costs of goods sold (like materials and production). It represents the company’s “raw profit” before fixed costs, taxes, and interest.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Or simply: Gross Margin = Gross Profit ÷ Revenue × 100
🏛️ Why is it important?
Gross margin indicates how efficiently a company can produce or procure what it sells. It is a key measure of product-level profitability and pricing power.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high gross margin suggests strong pricing power and efficient production.
- Falling margins may signal rising input costs or competitive pressure.
- Compared to peers, gross margin offers insights into the quality of a business model.
📘 EBITDA Margin
📈 What is it?
The EBITDA margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as operating profit before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.It reflects operating efficiency without being distorted by financing or accounting factors.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The EBITDA margin reveals how much operating income a company generates per dollar of revenue – independent of capital structure and tax effects.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBITDA margin reflects strong core profitability – before accounting distortions.
- It allows for effective comparisons across companies and sectors.
- A stable or growing margin signals efficient cost control and business scalability.
📘 EBIT Margin
📈 What is it?
The EBIT margin shows what percentage of revenue remains as operating profit after depreciation but before interest and taxes.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
The EBIT margin reflects a company’s core profitability while accounting for capital intensity (e.g. machinery, infrastructure). It’s especially useful for comparing businesses with different levels of depreciation.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high EBIT margin shows that the company remains efficient even after factoring in depreciation.
- It’s especially relevant for capital-intensive industries.
- Stable or rising EBIT margins over time are a strong indicator of pricing power and business quality.
📘 Net margin
📈 What is it?
Net margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as bottom-line profit after deducting all costs, interest, taxes, and depreciation.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
Net margin reflects a company’s overall efficiency – across operations, financing, and taxation. It shows how much actual profit is generated from each dollar of revenue.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high net margin means the company is not only strong operationally but also manages financing and taxes efficiently.
- Peer comparisons reveal business quality and competitiveness.
- Declining margins despite revenue growth can be a red flag for rising costs or inefficiencies.
📘 Free cash flow margin
📈 What is it?
The free cash flow (FCF) margin shows how much of a company’s revenue remains as actual free cash after covering all operating expenses and capital expenditures.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
This margin reflects the true liquidity generated by the business – independent of accounting rules or depreciation. It’s especially relevant for dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment decisions.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high FCF margin means a company consistently generates strong cash flow.
- It’s a positive signal for financial stability and shareholder returns.
- The long-term trend is key – a declining margin may indicate rising investments or weakening operating efficiency.
📘 Equity Ratio
📈 What is it?
The equity ratio indicates what portion of a company’s total assets is financed by shareholders’ equity – in other words, how much it relies on its own capital.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
A high equity ratio reflects financial strength and stability, especially during downturns. It’s a key indicator of a company’s solvency and long-term risk profile.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Companies with high equity ratios are generally more resilient and less dependent on external debt.
- Low equity ratios can signal higher risk or aggressive financial strategies.
- Important: Always assess the equity ratio in combination with the return on equity (ROE). This shows not just how stable the company is – but also how efficiently it uses shareholder capital.
📘 Return on Equity (ROE)
📈 What is it?
Return on equity (ROE) shows how efficiently a company uses its shareholders’ equity to generate profit. In other words: how much net income is earned per dollar of equity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROE is a core profitability metric. It helps investors understand whether a company delivers attractive returns on the capital provided by its shareholders.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROE indicates that the company is using its capital efficiently and profitably.
- It’s especially meaningful for capital-intensive businesses or firms with high equity bases.
- Important: A very high ROE can also result from high debt levels – always interpret it alongside the equity ratio to assess financial health.
📘 Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
📈 What is it?
ROCE measures how efficiently a company generates profits from its total capital – including both equity and interest-bearing debt.
🧮 How is it calculated?
It evaluates the return on all capital employed, regardless of how it’s financed.
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROCE is ideal for comparing companies with different financing structures. It shows how well management uses capital to create value for both shareholders and creditors.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROCE means the company uses its capital efficiently – regardless of whether it's funded by debt or equity.
- The higher the ROCE compared to peers, the more value the company creates with its invested capital.
- Especially relevant for capital-intensive sectors like industrials, energy, or infrastructure.
📘 Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
📈 What is it?
ROIC measures how efficiently a company generates returns from the capital invested in its core operations – regardless of whether the capital comes from equity or debt.
🧮 How is it calculated?
- NOPAT = Net Operating Profit After Taxes
- Invested Capital = Operating assets minus non-interest-bearing liabilities
🏛️ Why is it important?
ROIC is one of the most accurate indicators of capital efficiency. Unlike return on equity, it is not distorted by leverage and shows how much value is created for all capital providers.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high ROIC shows how effectively a company uses the capital that is truly invested in its core operations.
- Unlike ROCE, ROIC focuses only on the capital that is actively used to run the business – and that requires a return (i.e. interest-bearing).
- Especially useful when comparing companies with large amounts of excess cash or non-interest-bearing liabilities – giving a more realistic picture of capital efficiency.
📘 Leverage Ratio (Debt-to-Equity)
📈 What is it?
The leverage ratio indicates how much a company relies on interest-bearing debt (such as loans and bonds) relative to its shareholders’ equity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
This ratio helps assess a company’s financial structure and risk profile. High leverage can enhance returns – but also increases exposure to interest rate changes and financial stress.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A low leverage ratio signals financial strength and independence.
- A higher ratio can improve returns in good times but increases risk during downturns or rising interest rate periods.
- 👉 Always interpret in the context of industry, capital intensity, and interest rate environment.
📘 Earnings per share (EPS)
📈 What is it?
Earnings per Share (EPS) shows how much profit is attributable to a single share – and is one of the most important metrics for evaluating a company's performance.
🧮 How is it calculated?
The diluted share count reflects potential new shares that could be issued through options, convertible bonds, or other rights.
🏛️ Why is it important?
EPS is the basis for many key valuation metrics like P/E ratio, PEG ratio, or payout ratio. It enables comparisons of profitability across companies, regardless of their size.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- EPS captures per-share profitability and is especially useful for comparisons over time or with analyst estimates.
- Rising EPS may signal consistent growth or share buybacks.
- Important: Always use diluted EPS for more realistic valuations – especially in companies with stock-based compensation.
📘 Free cash flow per share (FCF per share)
📈 What is it?
Free Cash Flow per Share shows how much free cash flow a company generates per outstanding share – after investments, but before dividends or debt repayments.
🧮 How is it calculated?
Free cash flow is calculated as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures (CapEx).
🏛️ Why is it important?
FCF per Share reveals how much real cash is available per share – useful for dividends, buybacks, or reducing debt. Unlike net income, free cash flow is harder to manipulate and often seen as a more reliable metric.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- High FCF per share signals strong financial flexibility.
- It shows how much capital the company can effectively reinvest or return to shareholders.
- Particularly relevant for dividend payers and capital-efficient businesses.
📘 Short interest
📈 What is it?
Short interest indicates how many shares of a company are currently sold short – that is, borrowed and sold by investors who expect the price to decline.
🧮 How is it calculated?
It reflects the percentage of a company’s shares that are being shorted relative to the total shares available.
🏛️ Why is it important?
Short interest serves as a sentiment indicator: A high value may signal skepticism or bearish expectations – but also increases the potential for a short squeeze if prices rise unexpectedly.
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- Low short interest usually indicates market confidence in the company.
- High short interest can be a warning sign – or an opportunity if sentiment shifts.
- Especially relevant in volatile markets or ahead of key earnings releases.
📘 Employees
📈 What is it?
The employee count shows how many people a company employs worldwide – offering insights into its size, structure, and business model.
🧮 How is it calculated?
🏛️ Why is it important?
It helps assess operational scale, labor intensity, and cost structure. Combined with revenue and profit, it enables key metrics like revenue per employee or productivity.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high headcount can signal operational complexity – but also significant growth capacity.
- Revenue per employee is a key indicator of efficiency.
- Especially useful for comparing tech, industrial, or service-heavy companies.
📘 Turnover per employee
📈 What is it?
Revenue per employee indicates how much revenue a company generates on average per employee – a key measure of efficiency and productivity.
🧮 How is it calculated?
The employee count is typically taken from the most recent annual report.
🏛️ Why is it important?
This metric helps compare business models – especially between labor-intensive and technology-driven companies. A high value suggests automation, operational efficiency, or strong value creation per head.
🧮 Calculation
🎯 What does this mean for investors?
- A high revenue per employee indicates a scalable and margin-strong business model.
- A low figure may reflect labor-intensive operations or lower value-add.
- Especially helpful when comparing tech companies to industrial or service sectors.
Akva Group Stock Analysis
Analyst Opinions
9 Analysts have issued a Akva Group forecast:
Analyst Opinions
9 Analysts have issued a Akva Group forecast:
Akva Group Events
Past Events
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AUG
14
Q2 2026 Earnings Call
about one month ago
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MAY
8
Q1 2026 Earnings Call
4 months ago
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FEB
13
Q4 2025 Earnings Call
7 months ago
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NOV
7
Q3 2025 Earnings Call
11 months ago
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AUG
20
Q2 2025 Earnings Call
about one year ago
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StocksGuide Free
Akva Group — Q2 2026 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and very much welcome to the AKVA Second Quarter Presentation. The program for this morning is that I will do the introduction and the highlights. Ronny Meinkoehn, the CFO, will do financial performance, and please post any questions during the presentation. It goes straight to the highlights of the second quarter. We had a high quarterly revenue of NOK 1.189 billion and record high quarterly EBIT of NOK 111 million. We had a strong order intake of NOK 1.345 billion and order backlog of approx. NOK 3 billion at the end of the second quarter.
A small contract of approx. EUR 28 million was awarded from Laxey in April, subject to financing, which was secured in June. A dividend of NOK 1 per share will be distributed during the second half of 2026. Strategic review was announced start of April to maximize shareholder value. We'll give a comment on that later. Then to the figures of the second quarter. It is -- in the first place, it's in line with the trading update we published on July 20. It's a record high activity level of NOK 1.189 billion, EBITDA of NOK 179 million, where the segments came in Sea Based at NOK 143 million, Land Based at NOK 21 million and Digital at NOK 15 million. Actually, we are pleased with the activity and the performance in all the segments.
EBIT for the group at NOK 111 million which is representing a record quarter. Then looking into the figures for the first half. Revenue there at NOK 2.329 billion, which is ballpark 7% higher than the first half a year ago. EBITDA of NOK 332 million segment share, Sea Based at NOK 242 million, Land Based at NOK 62 million and Digital at NOK 67 million. And EBIT at NOK 202 million, which is also representing a record.
Overall order intake of NOK 1.345 billion, which is about NOK 300 million higher than a year ago. And as you can see here, Land Based at roughly NOK 400 million, and that's driven by the Laxey contract. And we are also pleased with the order intake for the Sea Based segment at NOK 913 million, which is significantly higher than a year ago, and it's also a bit fueled by the high order intake of the boats to the defense industry. Order backlog at NOK 3 billion, stepping up four quarters in a row in terms of building order backlog, so we're pleased with that as well.
Update on the strategic review announcement originally made on April 8, and the process is supported by the largest shareholders given the right market conditions. In the Q1 presentation on May 8 and following the initial phase of this review, AKVA informed the market about high-quality interest around the potential sale for the entire company and as a complete platform. The update for now is that the strategic review is in a progressed phase, still with an expected conclusion during the fall in line with previous communication, so no final decision have been taken at this stage. And AKVA will, of course, provide an update to the market when conclusion is there.
Then looking on the long-term salmon opportunity. The challenge is at large scale, how to double salmon production by 2040. And here, you see an illustration on the graph about what the demand increase of 5% year-on-year will do, so that's basically a double into 2040. And we think and the industry believe that the 5% growth is possible, at least from the demand perspective. However, the current business model is kind of running out of capacity and new investment is required to support the demand potential. And upper right here, we believe that in terms of examples of new technology, that will be about deep farming, post-smolt and grow-out, and that is to overcome the industry barriers, bottom right.
And unlocking growth through technology, some numbers, what we believe is possible here. On the base of 3 million tons of farmed Atlantic salmon today, we think that deep farming hold the potential to add 15% capacity, post-smolt ballpark 30% to 35%, and Land Based over some years, but still within the 2040 framework, potential of roughly 0.5 million tons. So that's the big picture, the way we see it.
Deep farming, first, potential to unlock 15% higher harvesting volumes from existing licenses. And what we see from farming today, commercial farming, where deep farming is deployed is that you can reduce the sea lice treatments by ballpark 80% and reduce mortality significantly. One example there is Sinkaberg, which for 2025 reported that they produced 38,000 tons of salmon, all with so-called shield technology and a clear, clear, clear majority being Nautilus delivered by AKVA, and they achieved only 4% mortality and 92% superior. The way we see it, this is by far a best-in-class performance in farming.
Just a little commercial update on deep farming. We see -- outside salmon, we see quite some good commercial traction within cod farming. We are delivering now significantly volumes to cod farming. And also this summer, we are producing -- or one of our customers in Turkey is producing trout in the Black Sea on commercial scale based on deep farming or Nautilus technology. Also during the first half, we have sold a solid number of new Nautilus concepts, and this is well ahead of our own plan, so we are pleased with that.
The fish thrives in the depths. It's a new technology, and it's a new way to improve fish health. So far, over 400 Nautilus units deployed to the sea, and what we see as results is that it is a significant reduction in lice pressure and need for lice treatments. It's a higher share of superior quality, and it provides more stable environmental parameters. And this is -- this data here is representing reproduction data from 19 harvested sites based on AKVA Nautilus. And the conclusion from all the data is that we have seen 78% reduction and then compare benchmark with neighboring sites without deep farming or 83% reduction with previous generation without deep farming. So those are very solid numbers.
Then post-smolt. Post-smolt is established as an industry growth strategy, shorter production cycle with reduced exposure in the sea, and also fewer sea lice treatments, lower mortality and increased biomass yield. Commercial update here is that first quarter, we sold for our new order intake around NOK 400 million, the same for the second quarter, and we expect about the same number for the third quarter, so relatively good commercial momentum within post-smolt. We are now pleased with the development. Yes, to summarize on the post-smolt side, we are the only true global post-smolt supplier. Also in the recent years, for those which have been following AKVA, we have been investing significantly to build our new RAS platform. We talk about NOK 300 million in the transformation since 2020. We have now 250 employees, specialists for us. And we -- today, we have scale there and we have profitability, so we are pleased with the development and the investment done. We deliver proven and documented technology, end-to-end project execution and advisory and services.
With regards to Land Based growth, this is now happening, in particular for us in China with our key customer and partner there, Nordic Aqua Partners. And we have now commissioned and completed Phase 2, which was adding another 4,000 tons of capacity. And now we are awaiting NAP's decision, which likely will come late this year, about Phase 3, which is another 12,000 tons of capacity. In addition to that, we are rather advanced with one other new ongoing customers in China, and we expect to close a contract before end of the year. That's the expectation.
Then moving on to Digital. We have a complete digital platform within AKVA culture. Also there, we have invested significantly in the recent year as much as NOK 500 million. Majority of that was linked to the acquisition of Observe in two steps. We have four kind of solutions, and they are Fishtalk to the right, which is the biological ERP system, 6 out of 10 farm salmons in the world will be on our system. Then you have the control system to the right here, and that's bringing together hardware and software. And then in the middle, it's about short-term decision-making supported by AI. There, we talk about Submerged, which is a smart camera, and Observe, which is about automated feeding, which is delivered now on more than 170 sites. Actually, we added some recently.
And what I can say about this commercially is that we see pretty good traction now, finally, I have to say, in the Norwegian market, so we expect to see good development there in the coming time. Also, we are very pleased with the development of our strategic expansion into the defense industry. This is actually the same information as I gave in the last presentation. The only update here is that we have in the second quarter, mainly, we have secured an order intake of NOK 230 million for the both segments. And that is a very solid number, which will absolutely propel the activity probably 3x into next year and significantly improve the profitability, so also very pleased with that development.
To summarize, AKVA Group, we see ourselves as a global leader and trusted partner within our space. We have three platforms there, Sea Based with a turnover of NOK 3.1 billion, Land Based with NOK 1.2 billion and Digital sits at NOK 138 million. So in combination, we see ourselves as part of the solution. Our solutions in totality can provide growth, better fish health, lower mortality and more precise feeding with less waste. Also a quick update on our growth agenda -- organic growth agenda for 2026. Those are the initiatives we are doing throughout this year in order to build a more robust basis for further growth into 2027. And there, I'm also pleased to update -- to give an update that we are making good progress.
Nautilus Next, that's on track, on plan and will be launched later this fall. Internationalization of the net business to acquire HDPE, the HDPE quality. There, I can tell you that we signed a joint venture with our Indian party in July, extending the portfolio of pen products, that's the 560 plastic, there we also on the plan will be launched to the market later this fall. And also partnering with the concrete barge producer, that's already executed and developed both supply to the defense industry, that's also executed and ongoing, so a very, very positive development. And to conclude, on the basis of a strong financial performance for the first half and also a strong order backlog, we like to reiterate our 2026 target. And also, we are on track for the 2027 target.
So that brings me very much to the end, and I'd like to hand over to Ronny. Please, Ronny.
Thank you, Knut, and good morning. We are, of course, very pleased to report another quarter with high activity level and also record high quarterly profit. So revenue was strong in the quarter, NOK 22 million above Q2 last year, and the growth was driven by higher revenue in the Land Based segment. For the first half year, revenue is just above NOK 2.3 billion, which is approx.imately NOK 150 million or 7% higher than in 2025. So profitability is strong, both in Q2 and for the first half year on the back of significant economies of scale, a solid product mix within Sea Based and also continued strong project execution in Land Based.
EBITDA in Q2 amounted to record high NOK 179 million, which is NOK 34 million higher than last year, and EBIT of NOK 111 million, that's NOK 22 million higher than the same period in 2025 and represents a record for AKVA. For the first half year, EBITDA is strong of NOK 332 million, that's NOK 74 million higher than last year, and EBIT of NOK 202 million, that's NOK 56 million or 35% higher than in 2025, and provides a really strong support to our guiding for the year of delivering a minimum 20% increase on the full year EBIT compared to last year. So we see a very positive trend, both when it comes to revenue and order intake. The book-to-bill ratio of the last 12 months was 107% with an order intake of NOK 4.9 billion and revenue of NOK 4.6 billion. And also in Q2 isolated, the book-to-bill ratio was strong of 113% with an order intake of more than NOK 1.3 billion.
Compared to last year, revenue increased by 83% in Europe and 75% increase in Americas, while there is a decline in revenue of 10% in the Nordic market. Sea Based represented 69% of the total revenue and the increase in the total revenue compared to Q2 last year is within Land Based, which had 23% higher revenue this year compared to 2025. EBITDA margin is strong in Q2 of 15% compared to 12.4% last year. In Sea Based, we delivered a strong EBITDA margin of 17.4%, supported by a favorable product mix. Land Based continued with strong project execution and an EBITDA margin of 6.5%. And last, Digital, a high EBITDA margin of 35.7% in the quarter.
So available cash, including unused credit facilities amounted to NOK 337 million at the end of the quarter, which is a reduction of NOK 105 million compared to Q1. And the reason for this reduction is related to the net working capital, which increased by NOK 150 million during the quarter and ended at 11.2%. So the net working capital is above our normal operating levels and is partly related to seasonal factors as well as a very high activity level at the end of the quarter in Q2. So we expect these timing effects to reverse in Q3 and be back on more normalized net working capital levels at the end of Q3.
The leverage ratio was increased from 2.32x in the first quarter to 2.51x now in the second quarter, which is still reassuring and provides comfortable headroom relative to the covenant threshold of 4.5x. Net interest-bearing debt increased by NOK 187 million during the quarter related to the NOK 150 million increase in net working capital and additional NOK 56 million in CapEx. We also had a new IFRS liability of NOK 96 million. And last, we also paid dividends of NOK 36 million in April.
So CapEx in the second quarter of NOK 56 million were NOK 25 million, that's related to our three innovation agendas, another NOK 7 million to the ongoing global ERP project. And last, we had NOK 10 million related to rental equipment, which returns attractive profit margins to AKVA. The return on capital employed continued to improve on the back of strong underlying operations and the ROIC improved from 10.1% in Q2 last year to 13.4% now in Q2 this year. And we are targeting to be around 15% at the end of 2026. We paid NOK 1 in dividend on April 21 for the first half year, and the company has also decided to pay another NOK 1 per share in dividend for the second half year, resulting in a total dividend of NOK 2 for 2026.
We'll continue with some more details on the financial performance in our three business segments, and I will start with the Sea Based technology. So overall, revenue of NOK 822 million, that is 5% lower than Q2 last year. However, the order intake was really strong, close to 40% higher this year compared to last year. EBITDA margin was strong of 17.4% compared to 14.3% last year. And as mentioned, this improvement is driven by a very strong and solid product mix.
Looking at the regions, we see Nordic region with decreased revenue of 17%. However, a very strong increase in order intake of 57% quarter-on-quarter. In Americas, revenue increased by 28%, while there was a decrease in order intake of 33%. And last, Europe, with the increase in both revenue and order intake of 49% and 29%, respectively. Looking at the 12 months order intake trend for Sea Based, we see that the development is very positive, and we also expect the revenue trend to turn positive in Q3 on the back of a very solid order intake during the first half of 2026. The order backlog for Sea Based of NOK 1.4 billion is record high and close to 60% higher than in Q2 last year, which is very comforting for the activity levels in the coming quarters. The OpEx-based revenue in Sea Based was NOK 271 million in the second quarter, which is NOK 29 million higher than last year. And the OpEx-based revenue represented 33% of the total Sea Based revenue in the quarter and is obviously a very important part of our Sea Based business.
For Land Based, the order intake of close to NOK 400 million in the quarter is primarily related to this new contract with Laxey on Iceland, and the revenue was very high in the quarter, 23% higher than in Q2 last year. EBITDA improved by NOK 8 million compared to last year, and EBITDA margin ended at 6.5%. And the improved profitability is related to this higher revenue, which generates economies of scale. So we see that both the 12 months revenue trend and order intake trend for Land Based is positive or the backlog is solid of NOK 1.4 billion at the end of the quarter.
And Digital had an order intake of NOK 35 million in the quarter, which is NOK 46 million lower than the high order intake in Q2 last year. The revenue was strong, 18% higher this year compared to last year. And we also see a significant improvement in the EBITDA margin from 21.9% in '25 to 35.7% this year. We see a very positive revenue trend for Digital, and we also see a very positive momentum in the market for our Digital products, and we expect the order intake trend to turn positive during Q3. Order backlog of NOK 220 million at the end of the quarter is NOK 32 million higher than 1 year ago.
So that was my financial update. I will give it back to Knut now to close off the session with the outlook and the Q&A.
Thank you very much, Ronny. Let's go to the outlook. We are saying we see foreseeing continued strong momentum for deep farming concepts. Also, this is supported by the new development into cod farming and also into trout in the Black Sea on top of the salmon farming segment, of course. And also the new version of Nautilus Next will also fuel further commercial traction, we expect. We continue to invest and improve our solutions across Sea Based, Land Based and Digital, that's our three times innovation agenda. And we are aiming for a revenue above NOK 5 billion and EBIT of minimum 9% in 2027. This is backed by a solid order backlog and also the organic growth initiatives we are conducting. Strategic review is expected to be completed during the fall of 2026. And that brings me to the end of the presentation, so we are now ready for the Q&A session. So please continue to post any questions you might have and our moderator will read the question.
Yes, indeed. We have one question from Ola Trovatn. Can you comment on what's driving this very strong order intake in Sea Based in Q2?
I think I mentioned that we -- there are basically two drivers. We had strong momentum on the deep farming, so relatively strong order intake in first half and most of it came in the second quarter. So on that segment, we are ahead of our internal plan, our budget, so that is number one. And number two is the intake of the NOK 230 million. I don't think everything came in the second quarter, but the big majority of that for both contracts, mainly to the defense industry. So those are the two drivers in addition to the regular business.
We don't have any further incoming questions, but perhaps we should give it 10 seconds.
Please post any questions. If there are no more questions, thanks for listening in, and we wish you a nice weekend. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Akva Group — Q2 2026 Earnings Call
Akva Group — Q2 2026 Earnings Call
Record Q2 profit and strong order intake; strategic review progressing and 2027 targets reiterated.
📊 Quarter at a Glance
- Revenue Q2: NOK 1.189bn (record quarterly activity)
- EBITDA: NOK 179m (+NOK 34m vs Q2 2025; EBITDA = Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization)
- EBIT: NOK 111m (record quarter, +NOK 22m vs Q2 2025)
- H1 Revenue: NOK 2.329bn (+~7% YoY)
- Orders & Backlog: Order intake NOK 1.345bn (+~NOK 300m YoY); backlog ~NOK 3bn
🎯 What Management Says
- Strategic review: Process initiated to maximise shareholder value; progressed phase with conclusion expected in fall 2026, no decision yet
- Core growth areas: Scaling deep farming (Nautilus), post‑smolt RAS (NOK ~300m invested since 2020) and land‑based expansion, plus digital tools (Observe, Submerged)
- New markets: Defense industry traction with ~NOK 230m orders and commercial wins in cod and trout
🔭 Outlook & Guidance
- Targets: Aim for revenue >NOK 5bn and EBIT ≥9% in 2027; 2026 guidance reiterated (minimum +20% full‑year EBIT vs 2025)
- Capital returns: Dividend NOK 2 in 2026 (NOK 1 paid H1; NOK 1 to be paid H2)
- Risks/notes: Elevated net working capital (11.2%) and higher net debt (NIBD +NOK 187m this quarter); leverage 2.51x vs covenant 4.5x
❓ Analyst Q&A
- Main question: Strong Sea Based order intake driven by deep‑farming momentum and sizeable defense contracts (majority of NOK 230m)
- Follow‑ups: Few additional questions; management did not provide incremental detail on strategic‑review buyers or individual contract margins
⚡ Bottom Line
- Conclusion: AKVA delivered record profitability and a rising backlog while investing across deep‑farming, post‑smolt, land‑based and digital; strategic review could unlock value but monitor working capital, NIBD and execution on 2027 scale targets.
Akva Group — Q1 2026 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and very much welcome to the Q1 presentation of AKVA Group. I will do the introduction and highlights. Ronny Meinkoehn, our CFO, will do the financial performance, and then we will do a Q&A session. So please post any questions during the presentation, and our moderator will read the questions.
Kicking off with the highlights for the first quarter. We had a quarterly revenue of NOK 1.140 billion and record high quarterly EBIT of NOK 91 million. Strong order intake of around NOK 1.5 billion and order backlog of NOK 2.8 billion at the end of Q1 2026. Our last contract with value of approx NOK 200 million was awarded from Ardal Aqua in February and earlier announced. And a small contract of EUR 28 million was awarded from Laxey in April and then -- will then be part of the order backlog for Q2.
Four new barges for the international market were awarded in Q1 with a total contract value estimated of EUR 6 million. Acquisition of remaining shares of Submerged was completed during Q1. That's our smart camera solution. Now we are the 100% owner and a dividend of NOK 1 per share were paid on April 21. And also the strategic review was announced the start of April to maximize shareholder value. I will comment on that a bit later in the presentation.
Key figures for Q1 2026, record high activity level of NOK 1.140 billion, which is representing 13% higher than a year ago. EBITDA came in at NOK 153 million, where Sea Based landed at NOK 99 million, Land Based at NOK 41 million and Digital at NOK 13 million. And the overall EBIT of NOK 91 million is representing a record quarter for AKVA Group.
Overall order intake of NOK 1.5 billion, which is also a record quarter, of which NOK 1.034 billion is related to Sea Based and NOK 460 million related to Land Based, also driven by the new Ardal contract. We are stepping up our order backlog and now it sits at NOK 2.8 billion by end of the quarter.
I'm also very pleased to inform you that we have done a strategic expansion into the defense industry. This is a very value-driven milestone for our Polarcirkel boats being produced here in Norway in Mo i Rana. So in the first place, AKVA has qualified for the Norwegian defense industry as a supplier of high-quality Polarcirkel boat. So very pleased with that. It's a kind of quality stamp, and we have used quite some time for getting this qualification.
Commercially, we have signed a long-term framework agreement with the defense industry in Norway for delivery of those boats. And the supply to the defense industry are expected to generate significant scale benefits and improve the profitability for the boat business.
Deliveries are scheduled to start in the second half of this year and are expected to be reoccurring and increasing in volume in the years ahead. That's the frame contract. So if I should give some flavor of it, I will say that when we have stepped up pretty well during '27, the activity of the traditional boat activity will be 3x higher for '27 compared to where we came from. So that will drive also profitability because of scale effect.
And those deliveries will be in addition to the ongoing commitments related to autonomous boats, both to the generic market and the defense industry. So if we are more than tripling the activity, we also need more production capacity, and that is secured. And we are now moving into new facilities, and they will be operational right after the summer.
Then moving on to the long-term salmon opportunity. This is the high-level picture, the challenge, how to double salmon production by 2040. Here you see the illustration in the graph for how the growth projection will be if the industry is to support a 5% demand growth. That's basically a doubling by the year 2040.
But the problem is that the current business model is running out of capacity. So new investments are required. And we believe box to the right that innovation and growth will be driven out of deep farming, post-smolt and grow-out. And this is an illustration based on our view, how to drive growth out of the traditional fish farming of 3,000 tons Atlantic farmed -- Atlantic salmon as today. We think deep farming can provide a growth for the next 10, 15 years of 0.5 million, plus multimillion tons and also Land Based will provide growth, but also other things like offshore and new technology like vaccines, new treatment, et cetera, et cetera.
Looking a bit more specifically into each of the growth platforms. Deep farming, we think it's a potential to unlock 15% higher harvesting volume from existing licenses. It is documented that those submerged cases, the deep farming will reduce sea lice treatment with around 80%. I will give some statistics in the next few slides. And this is proven to support fish welfare and supporting the social license, which also has to do with growth in the long run.
Also, very recently, we saw Sinkaberg, our first mover, our partner on deep farming. They reported that for the year 2025, they produced 38,000 tons of salmon, all with so-called shielded technology, but the clear majority is deep farming and Nautilus from us. And they achieved 4% mortality, which is way below the average of the industry being more like 60%, 70% and 92% superior, which is also excellent. So this is by far best-in-class biological results based on this technology. And we see that the fish thrives in the depth. So far, over 400 Nautilus units are deployed to the sea. We see significant reduction in lice pressure and higher share of superior, as I already mentioned.
And then diving a little bit into the details. We have followed 19 harvested sites from the generation spring '22 to fall '24. And to the right, you see the plotting of the data. So we know the 19 sites where deep farming is used, and we have then downloaded data from Barentswatch to see the number of sea lice treatments on those specific sites.
And there you see deep farming is on average for all those harvested fish, 1 treatment, a little bit more than 1 treatment for the whole generation. And the benchmark has been the neighboring sites without deep farming, and they are on average 6 treatments for the same generation. And then we also benchmark towards the previous generation at the same site, and there the reference is 7.
So to conclude, it's a 78% reduction versus neighboring sites without deep farming and it's an 83% reduction when you compare the last generation. So ballpark, you can say that 80% is a good number based on those 19 harvested sites.
So in addition to our own data, we have also noted that the scientist, Frode Oppedal from Havforskningsinstituttet, has said in public and he also did a publication that research shows that deep farming will reduce sea lice -- number of sea lice treatments from -- in a range from 70% to 90%. Also there, the midpoint is 80%. So we think 80% is a good number here.
Moving on to post-smolt. Post-smolt is established as an industry growth strategy. It provides shorter production cycle with reduced number of months in the sea. If you have a 1 kilo post-smolt, you typically go to 7, 8, max 9 months in the sea versus the normal, which can be 16 to 18. So the fish is just less months in the sea. And that is also providing fewer sea lice treatments, lower mortality and increased biomass yield.
And we have, in practice, very strong documentation from the Faroe Islands and the Rogaland region. And if you are successful in implementation of the post-smolt, there is certainly a documented potential to unlock 30% to 35% volume growth. There is a big market here going forward.
We are the only true global RAS supplier. We have a setup in Norway, Denmark and Chile, and we have an international project organization, which can execute the project globally.
We are ready to capitalize in the merchant growth phase. You saw last year, we came up with almost a doubling in our growth for Land Based. And that is on the back of the fact that we have invested NOK 300 million to transform this business to improve the science behind the technology and based on the documentation, we have 250 highly competent industry experts there. And last year, a turnover of approximately NOK 1.2 billion, almost doubling, as you can see here, and a relatively solid order backlog. So what we deliver is proven and documented technology, end-to-end project execution and advisory services.
Also Land Based grow-out is gaining traction. We basically have 2 major customers there being Laxey at Iceland on a hybrid flow-through where we reuse -- sorry, 70% of the water and NOAP in China with very high reuse of the water, more than 99%. So both of them are able and capable of harvesting big salmon. Laxey has started to take a fish at 4, 5 kilo and NOAP will harvest or they are planning to harvest 6,000 tons this year with a size of 6 to 7 kilo.
We think fundamentally, the success of harvesting big salmon has fundamentally to do with the water quality. We have very, very good water quality. We are able to take out quite a lot of the particles in the water, and that is boosting and stimulating fish health and fish performance in the tanks.
We expect to see commercial traction during 2026 and expect to sign one new customer during the year. And also NOAP will decide about their phase III project, which is a large project at the end of the year. And if they decide to go for it, we have the contract there.
Moving on to Digital. We have also there invested significantly in the last few years, NOK 500 million since 2021. Majority of the investment was related to Observe. We have 120 digital specialists within our digital platform. We have 4 different platforms there with presence in all the major markets.
Digging into those platforms, to the left, you see Fishtalk. Fishtalk is about biological ERP system where we have a 60% market share. So 6 out of 10 farm salmon will be on our system. And to the right, it's the control system, bringing hardware and software together, where we have a 50% global market share. And then in the midst, you have new systems, so relatively newly developed system, which is about short-term decision-making supported by AI. And there we have Submerged, which is our smart camera, which can do sea lice counting, biomass estimation and provide solid KPIs for fish health, and we have Observe.
So let's look at Observe. Observe is the market leader by far for [ automated ] feeding based on AI -- supported by AI. We have now installed Observe globally on more than 170 sites. It's a truly scalable solution, and we are now leveraging our global footprint. We expect to see more growth from Norway during this year.
Then summing up, we think AKVA is a global leader and a trusted partner. We have the 3 platforms, Sea Based, roughly with a turnover of NOK 3.1 billion last year, Land Based with NOK 1.2 billion and Digital with NOK 138 million. So in -- to summarize it, we think we are part of the solution. Our technology can provide growth, better fish health, lower mortality and more precise feeding with less waste.
Then our organic growth agenda for 2026, which is the driver for the step-up we are expecting to see into 2027, where we are on track to deliver on the NOK 5 billion mark. We will exceed it the way we see it today. And we have 5 organic growth projects. One is to commercialize next generation of Nautilus Next that will happen this fall. And the news will be about introducing a winch system, which will make it more easy to operate Nautilus. It will be more easy to bring it down and take it up, you will not need to bring in a service boat.
Internationalization of our net business, that's another project where we are now setting up a joint venture with an Indian partner. That is still in motion, still in progress.
Also, we will introduce a new more bigger size of our pen product that will also be launched this fall.
We have already partnered with a concrete barge producer, so the customer can choose between steel and concrete that's DOKK Husoy, and that is already now part of our product portfolio, what we can offer.
And we already announced that we have the ambition to develop our boat business with the defense industry. And I already said today that we already there have a contract in place.
So I'm very confident that those 5 generic growth projects will be supportive for reaching the NOK 5 billion target in 2027. And the way we see it today, we will exceed the NOK 5 billion target.
Focusing on '26, we have guided into this year that we expect to see a 20% step-up in our EBIT versus 2025. And on the back of a solid performance -- financial performance for Q1 and a solid order intake, we want to reiterate that we expect to meet with that guidance. For 2027, we expect to exceed the NOK 5 billion.
Then closing off with some few comments related to the announcement of the strategic review. This announcement was made on April 8, and the process is supported by the largest shareholder, of course, given the right market conditions. So AKVA has entered a phase of strong commercial momentum and sees the potential to exceed the 2030 guidance of NOK 7 billion revenue and minimum 10% EBIT margin.
So then a little update from where we are in the process because now we are 4 weeks down the road. So what we can report is that we see high-quality interest. And in particular, there is interest related to a potential sale of the entire company as a complete platform. Of course, I have to underline that we are still in the relatively early stage, but this platform sale will be our focus now, and that is what will be given priority.
So the strategic review is expected to be concluded after the summer or during the fall of 2026. I have to underline no decisions have been taken at this stage, and AKVA will provide an update to the market upon conclusion of the process.
So that brings me very much to the end. So I hand over to Ronny, please.
Thank you, Knut, and good morning to everyone. We are, of course, pleased to report that the strong financial performance in 2025 has continued into 2026 with high activity levels and also record high profits. So the revenue for the first quarter was strong, NOK 127 million above Q1 last year, driven by high activity in the Land Based business.
So on the back of a strong revenue, providing economies of scale and also a solid product mix in Sea Based, both EBITDA and EBIT reached record high levels for the quarter. EBITDA amounted to NOK 153 million, which is NOK 40 million higher than Q1 2025 and EBIT of NOK 91 million is NOK 34 million higher than the same period last year and provides strong support to our guidance of delivering at least 20% increase on full year EBIT compared to last year. Net financial costs in the quarter are high, negatively impacted by NOK 8 million reduced market value on our investment in Nordic Aqua Partners and profit before tax of NOK 56 million for the quarter.
So both revenue and order intake is showing a very positive trend. The book-to-bill ratio over the last 12 months is just above 100% with order intake of NOK 4.6 billion and revenue of NOK 4.5 billion. In Q1, we had a strong book-to-bill ratio of more than 130% with a solid order intake of close to NOK 1.5 billion.
So compared to Q1 last year, we see increased revenue in the Nordic market of 10%, 27% increase in Americas and 18% increase in Europe. We have a slight decrease of 8% in Australasia.
On the segments, we see Sea Based business still the major business area, representing 66% of the total revenue in the quarter. And the increase in the total revenue compared to last year is driven by Land Based, which had 96% higher revenue this quarter compared to 1 year ago.
After a soft EBITDA margin in Q4 last year, we delivered a strong rebound in Q1 this year with an EBITDA margin of 13.4%. Sea Based achieved a solid margin of 13.2%, supported by a solid product mix and Land Based delivered a strong EBITDA margin of 11.8%, driven by economies of scale and also a healthy project portfolio. And last, Digital maintained a stable and strong EBITDA margin of 32%.
Available cash, including unused credit facilities, was NOK 442 million at the end of Q1, which is a reduction of NOK 105 million compared to year-end. As we expected, the net working capital increased during the quarter and the increase of -- was NOK 85 million from the record low 6.2% at year-end to 7.9% at the end of the first quarter. So we aim to stabilize the net working capital below 8% on an average level, but please note that there will be some seasonality to it. Leverage ratio was reduced from 2.37 in the fourth quarter to 2.32 in this first quarter, which is reassuring and also provides comfortable headroom relatively to the threshold of 4.5.
Net interest-bearing debt increased by NOK 68 million during the quarter, and the big tickets are the increase in net working capital of NOK 85 million, CapEx of NOK 45 million, and we also had M&A activities of NOK 56 million, including payment of seller credit to the former owners of Observe Technology, and we also increased the ownership in Submerged from 58% to 100% in the quarter.
Total CapEx is NOK 45 million for the quarter, where NOK 20 million that's related to our innovation agenda and another NOK 7 million is related to our global ERP project.
And the return on capital employed continued to improve on the back of strong underlying operations and a disciplined capital allocation. So the ROACE improved from 9.3% in Q1 last year to 12.8% in Q1 this year, and we also expect further improvements during 2026.
A dividend of NOK 1 per share was paid on April 21 for the first half year, and the dividend for the second half year will be decided ahead of our Q2 reporting in August.
Continue with some more details on the financial performance in our 3 business segments. And for the Sea Based Technology, the revenue of NOK 653 million in the quarter, that's 6% lower than Q1 last year. On the other hand, we had a really strong order intake and more than 30% higher this quarter compared to 1 year ago.
EBITDA margin was strong, 13.2%, supported by a solid product mix. And overall, we can also report that the product mix in -- we added to the order intake and order backlog in -- during the first quarter was really sound.
Nordic region had a reduction in revenue of 9% in the quarter, while order intake increased by 25%. In Americas, revenue is down by 7%, while we had a strong increase in order intake of 160%, which is driven by the award of the 4 new barges. Europe revenue increased by 18%, while order intake is down by 28% compared to last year.
On the Sea Based side, both -- especially the order intake is showing a very positive trend, and we also expect the revenue trend to turn positive in the second quarter on the back of a really strong order intake in Q1. The order backlog is high of NOK 1.3 billion and is NOK 215 million higher than 1 year ago, indicating sound activity levels in the coming quarters.
And the OpEx-based Sea Based revenue in Q1 was NOK 233 million, representing 31% of the total Sea Based revenue and was NOK 17 million higher than the same period last year.
For Land Based, a strong order intake of NOK 416 million in the quarter related to the NOK 200 million contract with Ardal Aqua in addition to variation orders on existing contracts. The revenue was high in the quarter, NOK 346 million and 96% higher than the same period last year. EBITDA improved significantly by NOK 31 million in Q1 compared to last year, and the EBITDA margin ended at 11.8%. And the improved profitability is mainly due to economies of scale on the back of a higher revenue and with additional positive impact from closure of projects.
We see that both the 12 months revenue and order intake trend for Land Based is positive. Order backlog of NOK 1.3 billion at the end of the quarter is NOK 270 million lower than 1 year ago.
Digital order intake of NOK 44 million in the first quarter and NOK 12 million higher than last year. Revenue increased by 22% in the quarter and EBITDA margin was solid of 32%. And we see both the revenue trend and order intake trend is positive for Digital, and we expect this development to continue throughout 2026. Order backlog of NOK 226 million at the end of the quarter is NOK 85 million higher than 1 year ago.
That was my financial update. I will give it back to Knut now to close off with the outlook and the Q&A.
Thank you very much, Ronny. Closing off with the outlook, we see still a strong momentum for our deep farming concepts. Just to elaborate a little bit on that one. We have very good results from bringing the cod down in the deep. In particular, the cod doesn't like too much higher seawater temperatures than 15 Celsius, then it affects the appetite and the growth of the cod. So the cod should, in an ideal situation be lower in the sea. So we expect to bring more deep farming to the cod industry, the farm cod industry.
We also have an interesting development in Turkey, where they are farming trout in the Black Sea. In the Black Sea, it's very, very hot during the summer with high seawater temperatures. So they need to take out the fish in June. Now we have had one full cycle of production last year, where we took the cod -- sorry, the trout in the Black Sea down by 50 meters. And then we could produce growth entire summer. So we also expect to see further growth and scale up there.
And then we have the launch of Nautilus Next with the winch system this fall, which we think also will gain a good momentum in the market.
Moving on, we continue to invest and improve our solutions, both the 3x innovation agenda with Sea Based, Land Based and Digital. And we are aiming for revenue above NOK 5 billion. We expect to exceed NOK 5 billion next year in '27 and with a minimum EBIT of 9%. And the strategic review is expected to be completed during the fall of 2026.
So that brings me very much to the end, and we like to open up for questions.
So is there any questions in the call?
Not yet.
Okay. I urge you to post any questions, and we'd like to answer. Give it a little bit of time.
Okay. If no questions, we conclude. It was a very strong quarter and no need for questions. But thank you anyway for listening. Have a nice week.
Thank you.
Akva Group — Q1 2026 Earnings Call
Akva Group — Q1 2026 Earnings Call
Q1 delivers record EBIT and strong orders, underscoring AKVA's growth push across Sea Based, Land Based, and Digital.
📊 Quarter at a Glance
- Revenue: NOK 1.140B (+13% YoY)
- EBITDA: NOK 153M
- EBIT: NOK 91M (record quarter)
- Order intake: NOK 1.5B (record quarter)
- Backlog: NOK 2.8B
🎯 What Management Says
- Strategic review: Aims to maximize shareholder value with a potential sale of the entire platform; process ongoing and expected to conclude after summer/fall 2026 with no decisions yet.
- Defense expansion: Qualified as a Norwegian defense supplier for Polarcirkel boats; long-term framework agreement; deliveries start H2 2026; scale benefits and profitability from higher activity.
- Growth agenda: Five organic growth projects to reach NOK 5B revenue by 2027, including Nautilus Next with a winch, a larger pen, an Indian partner JV, and concrete barges; aim to exceed the 2027 target.
🔭 Outlook & Guidance
- 2026 target: EBIT to grow at least 20% vs 2025
- 2027 target: Revenue above NOK 5B with a minimum 9% EBIT margin
- Strategic review: Concludes after summer/fall 2026; potential sale of the platform, with no decisions yet; execution timing and market demand are key risks.
⚡ Bottom Line
AKVA's Q1 shows robust profitability and momentum, with record profitability and order intake. The firm aligns growth across its three platforms toward a NOK 5B-plus revenue goal in 2027 and a strategic review to enhance value, including a possible platform sale; timing and execution remain key uncertainties for shareholders.
Akva Group — Q4 2025 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and very much welcome to the Q4 presentation of AKVA Group. I will do the introduction and the highlights. Then Ronny Meinkoehn, the CFO, will do financial performance and followed by a Q&A session. So please post any questions during the call, and our moderator will read the question during the Q&A session.
I'd like to go straight to the highlights of the fourth quarter. We had a high quarterly revenue of NOK 1.1 billion with a corresponding EBIT of NOK 44 million. Land Based delivered a record high quarterly revenue of NOK 422 million. Sea Based secured a strong order intake of NOK 952 million, contributing to total order intake of NOK 1.250 billion. A RAS contract of a value of approximately NOK 220 million was awarded from Tytlandsvik Aqua at the start of Q4. Order backlog totaled around NOK 2.5 billion at the end of Q4 2025. We also had a very solid or robust cash flow generation in Q4, supported by NOK 153 million in net working capital release. And our dividend of NOK 1 will be paid later during first half.
Key features for Q4. We had a record high revenue for the quarter of NOK 1.1 billion, first and foremost driven by Land Based, but also a solid uptake on Sea Based. EBITDA of NOK 103 million on the back of this high activity. We are pleased with this EBITDA level, even though there are a few specifics to talk about related to project and product mix. That will be explained more in detail by the CFO later in the presentation.
EBIT level of NOK 44 million is fair for the quarter. Year-to-date, revenue of NOK 4.4 billion, that is almost representing a step-up of NOK 900 million versus 2024, which is 9% (sic) [ 25% ]. And that is certainly a very strong growth after quite a few years without any particular growth. So Land Based leading there with a step-up of NOK 557 million, which is representing roughly 90% increase. And Sea Based also solid with plus NOK 325 million, which is representing a plus 12% growth year-on-year. EBITDA came in at NOK 508 million, and that is 11.5% of turnover. EBIT of NOK 280 million is 6.4% of turnover. So if I'm to label this year, I'm very pleased with the growth, and I'm also very pleased with the financial performance. So it was a good year.
The order intake was also pretty good. Order intake of NOK 1.250 billion in Q4. We always try to look a little bit at the salmon price, because the salmon price is determining a little bit the appetite for customers to place orders. And we had relatively soft salmon price in Q4, the low 70s. So in light of that, I'm in particular, pleased with this order intake, just to view it a little bit. Order backlog of NOK 2.5 billion into the year is also reasonable.
Then taking one step back and looking more at the bigger picture and expressing that in our challenge, how to double salmon production by 2040. That is just illustrated by an annual growth of 5%, then you basically will double in '24. I'm not saying this is a hard forecast. This is just an illustration of what does it take. But we are a believer that if we directionally -- it's going to go in that direction into 2040, we think that the current business model is somehow running out of capacity. Okay, on the back of better biology, we could see a good growth in '25 of close to 12% increase in the global salmon production. So that was good. But that is not expected to repeat itself in the coming years without significant new investments and investments in new technology. Like we are a believer that the drivers there will be deep farming, post-smolt, and maybe a bit further out, some growth as well. And that is also needed to overcome some of the industry or the growth barriers being there, which is related to fish health, regulations, lack of social license and the financial risk. So we believe this is the high-level picture.
And then more specifically, in our context, what we believe and where we believe that there could be some growth on top of the base of some more than 3 million tonnes of Atlantic. We think that deep farming holds the potential to add something like 15% capacity by reducing lice and lowering mortality. I'll come back a bit more in detail about status on deep farming. And the same with post-smolt, holds the potential to add 30% growth on the current base by improved biomass yield and also reduced mortality and also utilizing your license to a bigger extent. And Land Based further out has the full growth, so Land has the potential to also reach a significant volume. But there certainly will be other emerging technologies like semi-offshore, closed system, et cetera, et cetera.
But I will focus on deep farming, post-smolt, and grow-out. Deep farming, we think that there is a potential to unlock something like 15% higher harvesting volume from existing licenses. That is on the back of significantly less sea lice treatments. We have data points supporting 80% production. I will show that in a minute. And that leads to proven improved fish welfare, reduced mortality, supporting also the social license and regulatory green light in non-green zones. Currently, this is applicable for close to 60% of the locations.
So currently, we have a few years of experience. The frontrunner Sinkaberg, they have been active now for quite some years. I think they have moved almost 100% of their production to deep farming, but also other customers are gaining experience with this. And based on our data points, in the first place, 400 cages of Nautilus is so far deployed in the sea. So 400 we have delivered. And generally speaking, we see a significant reduction in the lice pressure and the need for sea lice treatments. I will show more detailed later in next slide. Also positively, there is a higher share of superior quality. Based on the data we have access to, we see typically minimum 90% share of superior based on deep farming, and that's significantly higher than the industry average. And we also see more stable environmental parameters, positive signals regarding jellyfish and algae. Of course, this is site specific. I'm not saying one size fits all. It requires a certain depth. There are also other conditions required as well. But for the right sites, this is bringing very good results.
And we have data points here on generation Spring22 to generation Autumn24 or Fall24. 19 sites are being fully harvested. So what we have basically done, we know the sites which are operated with Nautilus technology. And then we have downloaded from Barentswatch the number of sea lice treatments related to the production on those specific sites. And that gives the data plot on the right-hand side, where you basically see the number of treatments for the full generation. So this should be a very accurate data.
And if you read the graph, you see that deep farming versus neighboring sites, because that is also something you can get information from Barentswatch about. If you do that mapping, there is a 78% reduction. And then we mapped against the last generation harvested at the same site before deep farming was used. And then we got to 83% reduction. So the midpoint here is 80%. So we stick to 80% if the starting point is correct with a site feasible for deep farming.
We have also noted that the scientist from Havforskningsinstituttet, he has said in public very recently that their research that was based on 40 sites shows 70% to 90% reduction in sea lice treatment. That's supporting our data because the midpoint there is also 80%. So we think that is something, for the time being, which looks realistic to achieve.
Then moving on to post-smolt. Post-smolt is established as an industry growth strategy. We see that shorter production cycles from typically 17, 18 months in the sea to 8, 9 months. That is, of course, a very reduced exposure in the sea, leading to fewer lice treatments, lower mortality and increased biomass yield. And there is very strong documentation there from both the Faroe Islands and the Rogaland regions, also other places. But we see that based on real data that there is a potential to unlock 30% to 35% volume growth.
With regards to the post-smolt market, we see a steady development there. For AKVA Group, based on our pipeline, we expect to close, on average, one post-smolt contract per quarter. So we did one in Q4. We expect another one in Q1. And on average, we expect one new post-smolt contract, a RAS contract per quarter for the time to come. The amounts, of course, it could vary a little bit, but I think the midpoint will be NOK 200 million to NOK 300 million, something like that. There have been some shakeouts in the RAS supply sector. And today, we can rightfully claim that we are the only true global RAS suppliers. We have capabilities to do projects in all the relevant salmon farming regions. We also have quite some people at ground in Chile with own presence there. And we have, over the years, delivered multiple projects in all relevant salmon farming regions.
So overall, I think also on the back of a very solid '25, where we had 90% growth in the top line, I think it's fair to say the statement that we are ready to capitalize in emerging growth phase for RAS. We believe our position is that we are the world's leading full-scale Land Based offering. We have invested a lot of money in order to get to this position, as much as NOK 300 million over the last 5 years, but we believe it will start paying off now. We have 250 very competent and qualified people with industry expertise, RAS technology expertise. almost NOK 1.2 billion revenue last year and NOK 1.3 billion revenue.
Land Based growth, we think it's starting to have some momentum. It's a slow birth. There are, of course, headwinds there as well. But we are advancing very well with NOAP in China. NOAP Phase 2, which we are just about to complete. That will add another 4,000 tonnes of production capacity for NOAP. They will have a combined capacity of 8,000 tonnes. And we expect that they will have a good production year this year. That's the communication from the company. And NOAP will decide later this year about Phase 3, which is a significant additional step of 12,000 tonnes, where AKVA has secured the contract, but the company will need to decide when to start on this one.
Moving on to digital. We have also there invested to create a leading digital platform for aquaculture, at least the salmon space. We are positioned for long-term growth. Also there, we have invested significantly. Over the last 5 years, we talk about NOK 500 million, whereby the majority of it is to acquire the AI company, Observe, which is providing automated feeding. So we have a leading platform, and we are present in all the major markets. Our offering is very much about biological control system, Fishtalk, where 6 out of 10 salmon will be on our system. That's to the left. We have the control system, which is bringing hardware and steering together. There, we have a 50% market share. And then we have gradually been investing in the concept in the middle, or the platform in the middle, which is about short-term decision-making supported by AI. It's either the automated feeding system or smart camera. But that's more a scale-up platform for us.
But saying that, Observe, which is our star for AI. There, we have very good traction. We have now established more than 170 sites or 170 sites is on our system with automated feeding. It's a truly scalable solution and with a global footprint with also growth opportunities in Norway. So for Observe, Q4 was truly excellent, because we contracted 70 new sites, which is a kind of game changer for this area, because we had 100 sites managed over a few years. And then we got another 70 in the fourth quarter, and that will add very meaningfully to our financial performance into '26, because the implementation phase is relatively fast for the 70 sites. I think most of it will be implemented in this quarter.
To sum up, with regards to the technology space, we think we can make the claim we are a global leader and trusted partner. We have the 3 platforms. We have Sea Based last year with NOK 3.1 billion turnover, where we have all the technology, all the equipment you need to run a farm in the sea, we can deliver. Land Based, both with the smolt, post-smolt and on-growing full-size salmon and also digital, as mentioned. So we believe, with our solutions, bringing the fish into the deep, starting with 1 kilo, and the digital platform, we think we are part of the solution that we are relevant for the future and that our technology can provide growth, better fish health and lower mortality, more precise feeding with less waste.
Then I want to spend a little time on this slide. This is a very important one. So of course, we are very pleased with the record growth we did see from '24 to '25 of NOK 900 million, equal to 25% growth and NOK 4.4 billion. But the next challenge we have communicated is the target from the Capital Market Day back in June last year, and that's the NOK 5 billion mark for 2027. So I just want to report to you what actions we are taking this year in order to have more growth to drive us. And of course, we have some organic growth from the base and the products already being there is realistic. But we have 5 projects, which will give additional growth.
First and foremost, it's about further secure deep farming and Nautilus Next. We expect to launch a new concept for Nautilus this fall. And the headline there is easiness to operate, because today, it works well, but it's too much hassle to bring the cage up and down. Very often you need a service boat to support this operation, and that comes with cost as well. So we are now developing a more advanced winch system, which will enable the farmer to operate it to lower and bring it up in an easy way without a big service boat being brought to the site. And we think that will help us to penetrate the market further. So that's number one. That's an internal development project we are in control of.
Second is about internationalization of our net business. Today, we are mainly running net business in Norway. So we are not very present and visible player abroad. And that is because we are lacking the HDPE quality. And now we are busy as we speak with acquiring HDPE production capabilities. That will certainly be outside Norway and outside Europe. But when that is in place, we expect that new production line to be -- it will take maybe up to a year to build. We are at the final stage to complete the thing from a contractual point of view, and then it needs to be built. It's a new greenfield. But we expect into next year that we will also be a player in the HDPE field, which is a very sizable market and where we are not present today.
When it comes to the pen products, we have a fairly fair market share for standard pens, but we are lacking one model. The market is moving in the direction of a bit more bigger dimension, a bit more solid pens. We are lacking that in our offering today. And now we have decided to organize that. So 6, 9 months later, we will also be in position to offer the lacking product there as well.
Then about barges. Traditionally, AKVA Group has delivered a lot of steel barges, and we have been -- we had typically a #1 or #2 position in the field of barges. But over the last few years, the commodity prices for cement has been more favorable than steel. So most farmers today will choose a concrete barge rather than steel. So we had a turnover on our steel barges last year of around NOK 100 million. A few years ago, that used to be NOK 300 million in a normal year, even NOK 400 million in a good year. But there has been a shift towards concrete. So we have been losing out quite a bit there.
So yesterday, we announced in a trade press release that we have now entered into a partnership with -- I think there are 4 of those yards in Norway which can produce the concrete barges. So we have now entered a strategic partnership with one of them, DOKK Husoy at Karmoy. And that will enable us to become a full-fledged supplier, either it's steel or concrete. So we expect that over a bit of time, probably already quite a bit into next year that we will be back to the normal turnover within barges regardless steel or concrete. So that's typically NOK 300 million or something.
And then the fifth one, the final one, also extremely interesting for us. And at AKVA Group, we have delivered for decades very, very solid working boats. We think we have the most robust and most secure working boats, service boats, those are typically up to 10, 11 meters, for the salmon industry. They are out there 24/7, 365 days and all kind of weather. So now we have made a contract with the Norwegian defense industry to modify some of our models and make some unique models for the defense industry. So we have secured already a significant contract with the defense industry. And also, we are together with them, financed by them, developing new models, which can add very nice activity to our boat building activity in Mo i Rana.
So all those 5 are very well-organized projects with very high level of comfort from our side, very high level of certainty that this will add -- each and one of them should add minimum NOK 100 million extra turnover within a few years. So we think those are very tangible things. Less so in '26, we will have some from the defense industry and the boats there. But for the others, most of it will materialize gradually into '27 and onwards. So very detailed, but I just wanted to explain more in detail to you what our organic growth agenda is about. And then once again, on our base, on our current base, there is a lot of technology and products behind that. We still expect some organic growth from that as well. So yes, also Land Based is very much about continuing working on the customer pipeline, and the same on digital as well.
All right. I'm running out of time here. Strategic road map. Just to conclude, we have been through a few turbulent years during '22 to '24 without top line growth, but we were able to do a lot of internal improvements. We changed a lot of things, both within the organization and with regards to the technology platform. We invested in bad times, and we started to harvest a bit from that in '24 where we improved the EBIT from 1% to 5% in that window. For '25, we guided NOK 4 billion and 6%. We came in at NOK 4.4 billion and 6.4% EBIT percentage. We are pleased with that. For '26, we are guiding that we expect to see a 20% plus EBIT growth versus '25. And that is based on some continued scalability. And also internally, we see areas where we can improve operational performance still, but also better profitability from our digital business on the back of the new contracts and Land Based as well and some from Sea Based. That's the justification of the 20% guidance. And for now, we maintain the '27 target of a revenue of NOK 5 billion and 9% EBIT percentage.
So that brings me to the end of my presentation, and I hand over to the CFO. Please, Ronny.
Thank you. Okay. Good morning, everyone. Yes. We are, of course, very satisfied with the financial performance in 2025, and we also consider the closing in Q4 to be acceptable. So revenue was strong in the quarter, like 40% higher than Q4 2024, driven by the high activity we have in Land Based business. For the full year, we have an increase of 25% of revenue from NOK 3.5 billion to NOK 4.4 billion in 2025, which is well above our guiding of NOK 4 billion for the year. So we have demonstrated good growth in Sea Based in '25 of 12% and 90% growth in Land Based. So on the basis of a high revenue in Q4, we consider the profitability to be somewhat on the soft side, mainly due to the product mix in Sea Based, but also to some extent, the project mix in Land Based. I will come back to this later.
EBITDA in Q4 of NOK 103 million is NOK 26 million higher than last year. And for the full year, we have an EBITDA of NOK 508 million, which is NOK 127 million higher than in 2024. And on EBIT, we have NOK 280 million on the full year, representing a margin of 6.3% or 6.4% compared to our guiding of 6%. So we are satisfied with the quarter, profit before tax of NOK 16 million and for the full year, a profit before tax of NOK 193 million.
Looking at the book-to-bill ratio of the last 12 months is just below the 100% level with an order intake of NOK 4.3 billion with a revenue of NOK 4.4 billion. A strong book-to-bill ratio in Q4 of 112% with this good order intake of NOK 1.25 billion.
Looking at the markets, comparing Q4 '25 to Q4 '24, we see a strong growth in the Nordics of 45% and also 49% increase in Americas, which is both primarily driven by Land Based projects. We see Sea Based business representing 59% of the total revenue in the quarter and the increase in total revenue compared to Q4 '24 is primarily Land Based with 94% increase and 20% increase in Sea Based.
EBITDA margin, somewhat soft, as mentioned, of 9.2% compared to the high 13.3% in Q3 and also the 9.6% in Q4 2024. For Sea Based, we have an EBITDA margin of 8.2%, which is primarily related to the product mix with less impact from deep farming products compared to previous quarters. Compared with Q3 and Q2, the Sea Based revenue is also less, meaning that the economies of scale is also limited in Q4. For Land Based, we have an acceptable EBITDA margin of 8.8%. I mentioned that this is also somewhat on the soft side due to the project mix, which I will comment later. In digital, we have a strong EBITDA margin of 31.8%.
Available cash at the end of Q4 was NOK 547 million, which is a strong increase of NOK 105 million compared to Q3. So we significantly reduced the net working capital by NOK 153 million in the quarter from 10.5% to 6.2% in Q4. We commented during our Q3 presentation that we expected some release in Q4, but the NOK 153 million was more than we expected and is also primarily related to the Land Based segment. We expect the net working capital to increase towards the normalized 8%, 9% level in Q1. And last, the leverage ratio was reduced from 2.62 to 2.37 in Q4, which, of course, is comforting compared to the threshold of 4.5.
We had a strong cash flow generation in Q4. Net interest-bearing debt was reduced by NOK 60 million, but the big ticket is the net working capital reduction of NOK 153 million. And for the full year 2025, we have a reduced net interest-bearing debt of NOK 154 million, which is driven by the sale of the Abyss shares back in Q1 of NOK 144 million. And please also note that we have reduced the net working capital in '25 of NOK 65 million, which is primarily related to our focus to reduce the inventory levels. So we believe the NOK 65 million reduction is a good achievement when we increased the revenue by 25% compared to 2024. It's very hard to fight net working capital levels when the business is growing.
CapEx of NOK 58 million in the quarter, where NOK 23 million that's related to our 3 innovation agendas, another NOK 10 million is to rental products. Rental products is equipment we invest in and rent to our customers, which is a profitable business to AKVA. And another NOK 15 million that's related to our manufacturing facilities. So total CapEx for the year amounted to NOK 176 million.
We have also seen a very positive development in return on capital employed during the last 12 months. It has increased from 7.9% in Q4 '24 to 11.5% in Q4 '25, which is a bit above our guiding of 10% at year-end. And dividend, we paid NOK 1 per share in dividend in November last year, taking the total dividend up to NOK 2 for the full year. We also decided to distribute NOK 1 per share for the first half of 2026, and this payment will be done in April.
And then some more details on the financial performance in our 3 business segments. And for Sea Based, the revenue of NOK 653 million, that's a 20% increase compared to Q4 '24. And the order intake was at the same high level of NOK 950 million. We see the decrease in EBITDA margin from 8.8% to 8.2% related to the product mix. I mentioned the most important driver behind this is the amount or share of revenue related to deep farming concepts, which was considerably less compared to Q2 and Q3 in '25 and also compared to Q4 2024. We see, in the regions in Nordic, we have increased revenue by 19%, a slight reduction in order intake of 9% compared to last year. Americas, both revenue and order intake has increased by 15% and 9%, respectively. And last, we have a strong improvement in Europe, Middle East, where revenue increased by 45% and order intake by 65% compared to last year.
We see the 12 months revenue trend for Sea Based is still positive, increased by 12% in the last 12 months. The order intake trend is more a flat liner. And we, of course, need to increase the momentum now to secure revenue growth in 2026. Order backlog just above NOK 1 billion at the end of the year, which is approximately NOK 60 million less than 2024. The OpEx-based revenue in Sea Based, which is a very important part of our business, was very high in Q4, NOK 320 million, and NOK 50 million higher than Q4 2024. And for the full year, we have just a little bit more than NOK 1.1 billion in revenue from OpEx-based revenue, which is at the same level as in 2024.
For Land Based, we have order intake of NOK 220 million in the quarter related to the RAS contract with Tytlandsvik Aqua. Revenue, all-time high, more than NOK 420 million, a 94% increase compared to 2024. We see a significant increase in EBITDA of NOK 16 million compared to last year. And please also note that Q4 '24 was positively impacted by closing of one project with a favorable outcome.
I mentioned the EBITDA margin somewhat soft in Q4 related to the project mix. So close to 40% of the revenue in the quarter is related to 2 projects with a project margin, which is lower than normal for the business area. First, we have a project in Chile, which we took over from Billund following the bankruptcy. This project is very derisked, which it should be when we take over a project, with a corresponding low project margin. And secondly, we have a hybrid flow-through project. Also this project with a lower-than-normal project margin due to less technology content complexity and hence, also lower risk to AKVA.
So just to summarize, the revenue related to these 2 projects was very high in the quarter, 40%. The project margins are lower, but reflects the underlying risks in the project. So they are fully in line with our expectations. We see positive momentum in Land Based, both on revenue and order intake trend. Order backlog is still solid of NOK 1.3 billion, NOK 130 million below 2024 at the end of the year. And last, digital, we have a strong order intake of NOK 77 million in Q4, primarily related to this new contract for Observe on the 70 sites mentioned by Knut. The revenue was 15% higher in Q4 this year compared to last year. We see a solid EBITDA margin above 30% for the business. And we see that the 12 months revenue trend is still a flat liner for digital, but we expect this to improve during 2026 on the back of a positive development in the order intake trend. So we have a quite solid order backlog now at the end of 2025 of NOK 222 million, which is 60% higher than 1 year ago.
That was my financial update. I give it back to you, Knut.
All right. Thank you very much, Ronny. Just to close off here and conclude. outlook, foreseeing continued strong momentum for deep farming concepts, also supported by Nautilus Next concept, the one I explained about, which will lead to a more easy way to operate, bringing down and taking up the Nautilus Cage as such. We are still continuing to invest and improving our solutions, our innovations agenda related to both Sea Based, Land Based and digital. And we are aiming for revenue above NOK 5 billion in '27 and EBIT of 9%, also supported by the 5 organic growth initiatives. And I should also mention that specifically our guidance for '26 is plus 20% on the EBIT versus 2025.
So that brings me very much to the conclusion, and we will open up for Q&A. So let's start with the people here in the audience. Yes, please.
2. Question Answer
Henrik Knutsen, Pareto Securities. How do you see competition in the farming concepts between competitors and also the farming concepts compared to, for instance, closed facilities?
Yes. So we were the pioneer in deep farming together with Sinkaberg and that gives us a good starting point, because we have installed already 400 cages, also with much more customers than Sinkaberg. So by far, we have the highest installed base. But of course, competition is not sleeping either. We think they have been stepping up, in particular, our main competitor has been stepping up during '25, and they also start to deliver. And I don't know what the exact data points there. I know that by far, we are still the market leader. And that is a position we want to secure also long term.
I think 1 thing is the current situation and status for the best technology. But the fact that we came first and also we are working with a couple of very good clients on our innovation agenda, it's very important to also lead the innovation race, and my observation is that I believe we are a little bit in the lead when it comes to the innovation race there. Because this is our new technology, there is a lot of -- it's a lot about protocols with regards to how to operate, it's a lot about choosing the right site, and it's also some about technology in orders. And we think the next phase will be about easiness to operate. So I'm pretty optimistic that we will have a good market position for deep farming also in the coming 3, 5 years.
With regards to closed, it became a little booster when we got the incentive for closed based on those 30,000 tonnes from the red zones you could recoup by a closed technology. So with great curiosity, we have been talking with quite a few of those companies with technology. We think it will still take a bit of time to mature the technology to really commercialize it. We saw the same with deep farming, even though we had a very good pilot there already 5, 6 years ago. It takes quite some time in order to mature everything, come to good protocols, come to good piloting, come to good biological performance. So we see that there is good appetite, good interest there.
We think it's still a little bit -- it will still take a bit of time before you see a couple of winners. Typically in our space, you end up with 2, 3 winners. And today, there are a lot of players. Not all of them will be there 5 years later, that's for sure. And for us, we are willing to consider to go into that, but we have decided not to develop ourselves, because there are so many players doing a lot of things there. So then we will rather invest in what we think could be a winner. And for time being, we don't know the answer to that.
A short question on the digital side, on what you call short decision-making. I guess you're more of a challenger, but you have secured a big order, as you say. Can you elaborate a little bit on that order? And how do you see competition there from the, let's say, 3 big players?
You mean the Observe activity, automated feeding? Then I will talk specifically about Observe and automated feeding. I think it's fair to say that on automated feeding, that is also a space, a segment where we have been the pioneers, right? There is one other player or competitor working with one specific large customer. They have not been too active in the wider market space till date. So we are basically the supplier or the player with a lot of -- a wide portfolio there. We have 170 sites across all the 4 main markets, Chile, Canada, U.K. and Norway. Norway is less penetrated than the others.
The 70 sites was distributed into 3 different customers, 2 or 3.
Two.
Two. So that means that 2 of them, they had done 5 plus/minus pilots. They saw good results, and then they deployed it over a large number of sites. We see a lot of things happening within smart cameras, but the smart cameras, at least not currently, cannot do automated feeding. They do sea lice counting, biomass estimation into weight classes and a fish health dashboard, but that's not automated feeding. So in specifically automated feeding, we are the leader, and we are the pioneer. Of course, also competition will wake up and move into that field. We understand that. But we also think that the relative revenue per site will increase. There will be more sites.
Today, there is a penetration of roughly 10% of all the sites in the world, the 170, there are 1,600, 1,700 sites, so a penetration of 10%. So there will be more penetration over the next years, and there will be more revenue per site, because we are still in the first phase of development in order to come to full autonomous feeding. A full autonomous feeding application will probably trigger twice a turnover per site. And we are now at the brink to deliver on that one. So you see value creation from more revenue per site and more sites. And of course, there will be more competition as well, but it's just at the very beginning of opening that new market space. So I think that is a very promising new segment, and you can add a lot of value from that.
Today, it's like that if you -- with help of automated feeding, if you can improve FCR with 0.008 or if rounded, 0.01, that means in practice from 1.20 to 1.19, if we are able to bring that value to the customer, everything else on top of that is the bottom line. So that is the cost of it. So relatively low cost compared to the value you bring. And we see in a number of user cases, we are able to support with improvements, which is way more than the 0.01. Sorry for the long answer, but it's a very exciting development.
Is there any -- okay 2 questions here. And then you can check if there is any questions from the call.
So how much of the growth in the Land Based section is contributed to a single contract or single contract versus like broader growth?
Last year, we had a 90% step-up, and that is based on our relatively broad portfolio. And I would say we have 5, 6 bigger projects behind that. Is that fair to say?
I think that's fair. 5, 6 above NOK 100 million in revenue.
Yes. So we see some customers, which are more like repeatable customers. We have done 2 projects for NOAP. We expect the third one to be started maybe at the end of this year into next year. We see with Tytlandsvik, we have been with them now from 0 to the latest contract, which will allow them to have 9,000 tonnes of installed capacity. The same with Laxey, and also Cooke is a very kind of repeatable customer. So there are quite a few. I mean, I would say, 6, 7 customers which are very stable with us. And then we have some other customers where we get one project, maybe they only have the need of one project. So there is a mix there. But we think we have a good traction now in the space for us after all the work we have done there and also the fact that some competition is struggling financially there. We think we have a pretty good momentum.
Do you expect that growth to continue?
Yes, over time. We got a little bit more growth than we expected in '25 for Land Based due to very good project progressing in Q4. So maybe '26 on Land Based will be at around the same level in between, but we expect at least '27 to come with a lot of growth. We are not sure about '26. There are quite some cases we are working on, which can give some extra growth in '26, but should be hopefully minimum the level of '25.
Is there any questions from the call?
Yes, there is. We have one from Ola Trovatn. Do you expect to close a post-smolt contract in Q1 2026? And what is the outlook for a new grow-out contract in China other than NOAP?
So yes, we expect to close a post-smolt contract in Q1. The answer is yes. And we are guiding that on average -- it's always hard, it's a marketplace with dynamics, but on average, there should be one post-smolt contract per quarter for the coming period. And we hope -- we don't know, but we also hope to sign one new contract in China outside NOAP within this year. We are at least working on it, whether it will materialize finally, those are very big complex contracts, legally complex contracts in China. So we need to be on 100% solid base whenever starting a project. But the ambition is to close a new project outside NOAP in China in '26, yes.
Well, we don't have any more incoming questions. Do we have any more questions from the audience? Let's give it 10 seconds.
Okay. Thank you very much for all your attention and have a nice Olympic weekend.
Akva Group — Q4 2025 Earnings Call
Akva Group — Q4 2025 Earnings Call
📊 Quarter at a Glance
- Q4 Revenue: NOK 1.1B (record); EBIT: NOK 44m.
- Full-year Revenue: NOK 4.4B, +25% YoY; EBITDA: NOK 508m; EBIT: NOK 280m (6.4% margin).
- Backlog / Intake: Backlog NOK 2.5B; Q4 order intake NOK 1.25B; total FY order intake NOK 4.3B.
- Segment mix: Land Based Q4 revenue NOK 422m (record); Sea Based order intake NOK 952m.
- Liquidity: Net working capital release NOK 153m; dividend NOK 1 per share (paid in H1 2026).
🎯 What Management Says
- Growth target: Reiterates NOK 5B revenue and ~9% EBIT by 2027; 2026 EBIT expected to be up >20% vs 2025.
- Strategic initiatives: Five growth projects (deeper farming, Nautilus Next, HDPE pens, expanded pen models, barges; defense boats) plus NOAP capacity expansion (Phase 2 +4,000 t to 8,000 t; Phase 3 ~12,000 t).
- Digital leadership: Observe AI platform gaining traction; 170 sites on system, 70 new sites in Q4; automated feeding and Fishtalk milestones support broader adoption and profitability.
🔭 Outlook & Guidance
- Outlook: 2026 EBIT >20% vs 2025; 2027 revenue > NOK 5B with ~9% EBIT.
- Capacity / China: NOAP Phase 2 to 8,000 t; Phase 3 targets 12,000 t; decision on Phase 3 later this year; potential new China grow-out contract outside NOAP in 2026.
- Risks: Project mix complexity, salmon price fluctuations, regulatory/social license issues, and execution risk in large projects.
❓ Analyst Q&A
- Competition & space: Deep farming leads but competitors ramp up; closed facilities tech is maturing; AKVA aims to stay ahead through innovation and scale.
- Land Based growth mix: Growth driven by several large contracts (5–6 above NOK 100m); not reliant on a single deal; 2026 may be similar to 2025, with 2027 stronger.
- Post-smolt & China: Expect ~one post-smolt contract per quarter; potential new grow-out contract in China outside NOAP in 2026, though outcomes depend on complex approvals.
⚡ Bottom Line
Robust Q4 and 2025 results with record Land Based revenue and 25% annual growth. Management maintains a clear path to NOK 5B revenue by 2027 with ~9% EBIT, underpinned by five organic initiatives, NOAP expansion, and a fast-growing digital platform. 2026 targets imply >20% EBIT growth amid execution and market risks.
Akva Group — Q3 2025 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and very much welcome to the Q3 presentation for AKVA Group. I will do the introduction and the highlights. Ronny Meinkoehn, the CFO, will do the financial performance, and then followed by a Q&A session. So, please post any questions you might have, and our moderator will read your question.
The highlights for the third quarter. Solid quarterly revenue of NOK 1.1 billion, and EBIT of NOK 89 million. Just into the fourth quarter, early October, we were awarded the RAS contract from Tytlandsvik Aqua, with estimated contract value of NOK 220 million. Order intake is expected to be strong in Q4, providing a solid foundation for continued revenue growth into 2026. And AKVA is confident to deliver on 2025 revenue and EBIT guidance of minimum NOK 4 billion and 6%, respectively.
Let's go straight to the numbers. Revenue for the quarter was NOK 1.1 billion. EBITDA came in at NOK 148 million and EBIT at NOK 89 million. This is representing our best third quarter ever, and we are pleased with both the activity level and the financial performance.
Year-to-date, revenue of NOK 3.3 billion, EBITDA of NOK 406 million, and EBIT of NOK 236 million. This is representing a 20% increase in revenue year-on-year, and also our best financial performance ever. So, we are pleased with that.
Let's look into order intake and order backlog. Order intake of NOK 786 million in total, which is on the soft side for Q3, above the level as a year ago. And please be aware that there is a seasonality in the order intake pattern.
Saying that, we expect Q4 this quarter to be very strong, significantly stronger than the same quarter a year ago, which was NOK 1.1 billion. And that will secure a good momentum for continuous growth into 2026 versus '25 then.
And this statement is based on actual sales we have seen now in October, and the number of tenders being out there. So that is the basis for our qualification of a strong order intake in Q4. Order backlog of NOK 2.4 billion, which is a reasonable level.
Then I will spend some time, some minutes on the long-term Salmon opportunity. And this is a kind of executive summary of the Capital Market Day we had back in June this year. First of all, a few words about AKVA Group. We are a technology innovator across multiple areas. We are the pioneer. We have been the first mover in many important areas.
Starting in the 1980s with the automated feeding, which is kind of the DNA of AKVA Group. More recently, over the last 8, 10 years, the development and the first mover of the deep farming concept where we have delivered more than 200 cages now till date. And then over the last 30 years, we have been a pioneer and a mover, first mover within the Smolt and the Post-smolt segment, which is now proof-of-concept is very much there. And that gave also birth to the Land Based grow-out area, which is now happening first and foremost in China with Nordic Aqua Partner. Also, since the '80s, we have been there with software and more recently more AI-based solutions.
Then moving more into the industry. Salmon farming industry is at a crossroad. The graph on the numbers here is representing Atlantic salmon, the volume globally over the last 20 years or so. It took 3 decades, 30 years to pass the first 1 million tonne in 2001. And then another 10 years or so, a little more, 11 in 2012 to add another 1 million tonne. And then slightly less than 10 years till 2021 to pass 3 million tonnes.
But then followed by some years of stagnation. And why stagnation, there have been some industry barriers in the recent years, which is about fish health, high mortality regulations. We have seen growth constraints related to regulations and also the social license has been at stake. And even more, we have seen financial risk, first and foremost, represented by the new resource tax as such. So, this has hindered some growth. But saying that in 2025, we have seen some good growth of 9%. That is on the back of excellent biology. But still, in 2026, we do not expect too much growth again, more flattish.
And now the challenge. The challenge is how to double salmon production by 2040. So, the -- what we see is that the current business model is running out of capacity and new investments are required. What we like to see in this industry is a healthy growth. Probably a healthy growth is something like 5% because there is an underlying megatrend and growth for salmon consumption demand. And 5% is representing a healthy growth because the market can handle that and you will have a healthy salmon price with that type of growth.
And if we can grow the market with around 5% year-on-year, that will take basically the challenge to double over the next 15 years. And that cannot happen within the current production model. So new investments will be required, new investments in new technology, technology like deep farming, post-smolt and also grow-out. And that is to overcome the industry barriers, so to say.
And then, we have just illustrated some of the growth potential. Of course, it can be -- it can happen in real life in a different way than this, but this is for illustration purposes. So, the starting point is that the traditional Sea Based farming currently produces around 3 million tonnes of Atlantic salmon globally.
We believe that, if we can scale deep farming over the next 15 years, that could add another 15% capacity by reducing lice, lowering mortality and open the social license to produce more. Furthermore, post-smolt holds the potential to add 30% to 35% to volumes That is by improving biomass yield and reducing mortality.
Land Based growth beginning to gain traction with long-term potential of 500,000 tonnes or more. And of course, other emerging technologies like offshore, close containment is likely required also to support growth as such.
Diving into deep farming. We see a potential to unlock 15% higher harvesting volume over the next 15 years or so. Submerged cages reduce the sea lice treatment by up to 85% and hence, reducing mortality with relatively speaking, limited additional investments.
Proven improved fish welfare supporting social license. This is important because we think in addition to the effect from lower mortality, we think also there will be a positive impact of increased or greater social license, enabling growth as well. And this concept is currently applicable for close to 60% of the locations, and we believe this is representing a NOK 6 billion market.
Using this opportunity also to give a short commercial update on deep farming, where we are right now. As I mentioned, we have delivered more than 200 cages. And now just into October, we got our first commercial contract of deep farming to Turkey of NOK 45 million. And the concept in Turkey is to produce trout in the Black Sea. The surface temperature is very high during the summer. And the concept is to bring the fish 30, 40 meters underneath to come to more ideal temperatures, enabling the industry to grow salmon throughout the summer months. So, this can be a breakthrough in Turkey.
We also believe that talking Turkey for the bass production, also the temperature in the sea is too high in the summer now. So, we also believe that, there is a business case for moving bass down in the deep.
Back to Norway, we expect to sign contracts with several new customers during Q4. Post-smolt established as an industry growth strategy. It is bringing shorter production cycles down to 7, 8, 9 months with reduced exposure in the sea. It's about fewer sea lice treatments, lower mortality and increased biomass yield. And we have a strong documentation from the Faroe Islands and the Rogaland region. And we see a potential based on those business cases, Faroe and Rogaland of unlocking 30% to 35% volume growth.
Also here, a short commercial update. In addition to the new contract of NOK 220 million we have reported early October, that's with Tytlandsvik. We also expect to close several new contracts over the next months to come.
AKVA Group, we are the only true global RAS supplier. We have physical presence in Norway. We are the only one with the presence in Chile and the only one in China. And we have a global project capabilities, so we can drive projects, execute projects all over the world.
We have invested a lot in Land Based, actually around NOK 300 million in the last 5 years. We have 250 very competent people, and we have a solid order backlog, which we expect to increase in the years to come. So, we are very well positioned for taking part of the expected growth. We have proven and documented technology. We have end-to-end project execution, and we have advisory and services.
With regards to Land Based growth, Land Based farming is beginning to mature. We saw 25,000 tonnes of production in '24 after a decade with trial and errors. And several RAS and reuse facilities now showing commercial validation.
Nordic Aqua in China is now delivering predictable and well-documented volumes of superior fish. Also here, a small commercial update. We are now working with other Land Based projects than NOAP. NOAP is exciting still for us. It's our #1 customer within this segment. And we also expect to -- in the future to deliver Phase III for NOAP. But now we're also busy with increasing the customer portfolio, and it's getting more concrete now than before. So, we expect something to materialize over the next months.
When it comes to digital, also here, we have invested to create a globally leading digital platform within aquaculture. Over the last 5 years, we have invested as much as NOK 500 million and majority or a bit more than half of that was acquiring the AI company, Observe. And the rest of the money went into further development of AKVA Fishtalk, AKVA Connect and also the acquisition of AKVA Submerged. And we are present in all the major salmon markets.
Our platform is based on, first of all, a complete platform. It's about biological control. There, we have a 60% market share. That's Fishtalk to the left here. To the right, it is about control system between the barges and the pens where we have more than 50% market share. And in the midst, it's about short-term decision-making using AI to support short-term decision-making. And here, for instance, Observe is very, very instrumental. We are now the owner -- we own Observe 100%. We have global presence. It's a truly scalable solution, and we have around a bit more than 100 sites now.
Also here, a small commercial update. During Q4, we expect to add and contract another 70 to 80 sites on top of the more than 100-plus sites being there. So Q4 is expected to be a kind of breakthrough when it comes to the commercialization of Observe.
Coming to the end, AKVA Group has the position as a global leader and trusted partner. We have the 3 platforms, Sea Based, Land Based and Digital. And we bring improved fish health and welfare, higher growth and higher value creation. We truly believe we are part of the solution, and our technology can provide growth and value creation as such.
This is a graph just showing in the blue or black colors, AKVA revenue over the last 8, 9 years. And then in the orange graph, it is the development of the investments in fixed assets by the farmers. So, the investment level in the Salmon farming industry increases by 12% annually over those years. And that is significantly outpacing the harvest volume, which is more at 2.3%. And the AKVA Group revenue had overall also increased to the same 12%, in line with the industry investments. Year-to-date, we are a bit higher. We are at 20% revenue growth year-to-date.
And then coming to the end, our strategic road map, which was presented during the Capital Market Day in June. First of all, we like to confirm the 2025 guidance, which is a revenue of NOK 4 billion and minimum NOK 4 billion, sorry, and EBIT of 6% or higher.
Then a new 2026 guidance, that is to be reported as part of the Q4 reporting, which will happen in February. So, in February, we will release the 2026 guidance. And then we have the 2027 target of NOK 5 billion and EBIT of 9%. And today, we have a bit more information than in June when we issued this, and we just want to reiterate the 2027 target, which was reported during the Capital Market Day.
And that brings me very much to the end. We will now move into the financial performance. And Ronny Meinkoehn, our CFO, he will do the presentation. So please, Ronny.
Thank you, Knut, and good morning to everyone. We are satisfied with the financial performance in this third quarter. And as we told you when we did the Q2 presentation back in August, we expected Q3 to be a repeat of Q2, and that's exactly what happened.
So, we had a strong revenue in this third quarter, NOK 176 million higher than Q3 last year and revenue year-to-date of NOK 3.3 billion is more than 20% higher than in 2024. So, we have demonstrated good growth in Land Based and Sea Based in 2025. And we are, of course, comfortable to deliver on our revenue guiding this year of NOK 4 billion.
The profitability in the third quarter was strong. EBITDA of NOK 148 million is NOK 20 million higher than in Q3 last year. And year-to-date EBITDA of NOK 406 million is more than NOK 100 million than in the same period last year, which is a strong increase of more than 30%.
On EBIT, year-to-date, we have a margin of 7.2%, well above our guiding for the full year of minimum 6%. And the net financial costs in the quarter was low of NOK 14 million, positively impacted by the NOK 10 million increase in market value on our investment in Nordic Aqua Partners.
So overall, we are satisfied with a profit before tax of NOK 75 million in Q3 and NOK 177 million year-to-date. And for Q4, we expect a soft closing for the year, both with regards to revenue and profit due to the seasonality in our Sea Based business.
The book-to-bill ratio over the last 12 months is a bit above 100% with both order intake and revenue of NOK 4.1 billion. Book-to-bill ratio in the third quarter was somewhat soft of 71%. However, as stated by Knut, based on the momentum we see in the market, we expect a strong order intake in Q4, which will support continued revenue growth into 2026.
And compared to Q3 last year, we see increased revenue in all our markets, except Americas with 22% increase in Nordic, 27% increase in Australasia and 53% increase in Europe and Middle East. Sea Based business represented 69% of our total revenue in the quarter and the increase in revenue is mainly related to Land Based, which had 90% higher revenue in Q3 this year compared to a year ago.
We delivered a strong EBITDA of 13.3% in Q3, in line with Q3 last year and a bit higher than in Q1 and Q2 earlier this year. We have a strong EBITDA margin of 14.7% in Sea Based, which is supported by a sound product mix and also high activity, which provides economies of scale at our production facilities. For Land Based, we continue to see improved profitability due to higher revenue and also improved project margins with an EBITDA of 7.3% for the quarter.
Available cash was reduced by NOK 31 million in the quarter and ended at NOK 442 million, and the main reason for this reduction is due to the increase in net working capital of NOK 56 million from 9.4% in Q2 to 10.5% in Q3. We expect some relief in the net working capital during Q4.
And the leverage ratio was increased from 2.3 to 2.62 in Q3. And the reason for this increase is related to the observed gain of NOK 71 million recognized in Q3 '24, when we did the 100% acquisition of Observe Technologies. And this gain is no longer included in the last 12 months EBITDA. But still, our ratio of 2.62 is comforting compared to the threshold of 4.5.
Net interest-bearing debt has increased by NOK 35 million in the quarter, driven by the increased net working capital of NOK 56 million. We have NOK 44 million in CapEx and also NOK 49 million in new IFRS 16 liability. Year-to-date, we have a reduction in net interest-bearing debt of NOK 94 million, which is driven by the net proceeds from the sale of our shares in Abyss Group back in Q1.
Total CapEx of NOK 44 million, where close to 40% is related to our 3 innovation agendas, one for Sea Based, Land Based and also one for Digital. And we have another NOK 7 million in CapEx related to rental products, meaning investments in products we are leasing out to our customers. Year-to-date, we have CapEx of NOK 118 million.
The improved financial performance is also reflected on the return on capital employed, which increased from 7% in Q3 last year to 10.5% in Q3 this year, which is in line with our guiding.
Dividend, we paid NOK 1 in April for the first half year, and we also paid another NOK 1 now start of November for the second half year. And of course, it's good to be in a position to distribute dividends again and NOK 2 per share for the 2025 is a record for AKVA.
Continue somewhat details on the financial performance in our 3 business segments, and I will start with Sea Based technology. Overall, revenue of NOK 770 million is NOK 30 million higher than Q3 last year, while order intake was somewhat lower of NOK 15 million compared to 1 year ago.
Strong EBITDA margin of 14.7%, driven by a healthy product mix and also high activity, which provides economies of scale. On the regions, we see in Nordic, we have increased revenue of 3% in the quarter, reduced order intake of 12% compared to Q3 last year. In Americas, revenue was down by 14%, but we see a sharp increase in order intake of more than 100% compared to 2024.
And last, Europe, Middle East, revenue increased by 64%, while order intake was down by 61%. We see the 12 months revenue trend for Sea Based is positive, and we also expect the 12 months order intake trend to turn positive in Q4 on the back of a very high tender activity in the market. So order backlog in Sea Based, NOK 745 million is NOK 35 million higher than Q3 last year.
And the OpEx-based revenue in Sea Based is a very important part of our Sea Based operations, and the revenue was somewhat lower in Q3 this year compared to last year. But overall, for the year, we are at NOK 826 million, which is a bit more than in 2024.
For Land Based, the order intake in Q3 was NOK 138 million and primarily related to the new contract for Laxey on Iceland of EUR 8.5 million. The revenue in the quarter was high, more than NOK 300 million and a 90% increase compared to Q3 2024. So we had good activity and good progress on our project for NOAP in China, as well as for other larger projects, both in Norway, Iceland and also in Chile.
EBITDA improved significantly by EUR 17 million in Q3 this year compared to last year and ended at 7.3%. The improved profitability is, of course, related to the higher revenue, which provides economies of scale and also to improved project margins. So the 12 months revenue trend for Sea Based is really positive, and we also expect to see a positive shift in the 12 months order intake trend in Q4 due to the newly awarded RAS contract for Tytlandsvik Aqua of more than NOK 200 million.
So order backlog in Land Based is solid. It's just above NOK 1.4 billion, which is NOK 70 million lower than last year. And last, digital with an order intake of NOK 28 million in Q3, same level as last year. Revenue was also at the same level as in 2024. We see EBITDA margin improved from 31.9% to 36%. And the trend, the 12 months revenue trend is a flatliner.
However, as Knut stated, we have secured some good sales now in Q4, we expect to see a positive trend, both with regards to revenue and also order intake in 2026. And we have an order backlog of NOK 183 million for digital, which is NOK 36 million higher than 1 year ago.
That was my financial update. I will hand it back to Knut now for the outlook and the Q&A.
Thank you very much, Ronny. Outlook, we foresee a continued strong momentum for our deep farming concept, as I already explained about, continuing to invest and improve our solutions across Sea Based, Land Based and Digital. And once again, we are aiming for our revenue above NOK 4 billion this year and EBIT of 6% as such. And we also expect a strong order intake in Q4 to support continued revenue growth in 2026.
And that brings us down to the Q&A session. So we like to open the Q&A session. So -- we ask our moderator, if there is any questions.
We have one question from Mr. Henrik Knutsen, Pareto. How do you see the competition in post-smolt production from closed systems in sea?
Yes. Yes. First of all, we see a good appreciation for post-smolt -- the post-smolt concept as such. And there are 2 ways of producing a post-smolt. You can do it in a RAS facility on land, and you can also do it in a closed containment in sea.
I think the answer to the question is very much related to regulations. We see an uptake in the interest for producing post-smolt in the sea very recently because of the new incentives related to the Miljuflex -- sorry, for the Norwegian Miljuflex regulation. And that -- there is an incentive up to 30,000 tonnes there, because you can get back some of the lost volume in net track in Norwegian. And that is attractive when you can have this growth without utilizing and using your current MAB.
So, we think that is a fair opportunity for the farmers. However, in a more regular situation where you have to use out of your current MAB, we think that for us on land is competitive. So, I think it's a question about regulation at the end of the day.
Saying that, we see good tender activity on both smolt because there are still smolt facilities, regular smolt facilities to be built and also post-smolt. And even on the ongoing, we have some good activity. So, we are not worried for the next few years to come.
We also have a question from Mr. Ola Trovatn, DNB. Do you expect a stronger order intake in Sea Based Q4 2025 versus Q4 2024? And also, do you expect a similar revenue level and EBITDA margin for Land Based in Q4 2025 versus Q3 2024?
So on the order intake first, and we have said clearly that, we expect a higher activity level for Q4 for AKVA Group in total, but we also expect that to be the case for Sea Based. Now I'm talking order intake Q4. And Ronny, you can comment on the expectation for Land Based in Q4.
Yes. We are, of course, pleased to see the progress in Land Based with high activity level and also improved profit margins, and we expect more or less the same to happen in Q4 this year, yes.
Question from Carl-Emil Johannessen, Pareto. Are you working with any of the closed system providers or looking to develop your own system?
As far as we have recognized there are 22 different technologies available in the market. We -- so far, we have had a strategy to monitor those emerging technologies. It's rather costly. It takes a lot of time, resources and not at least money to develop each and one of the technologies.
It's very hard to predict who will be the winner. One thing is for sure, it will not be all the 22. It might be probably 2 or 3 of them. And there are some risks related to this kind of race. So we have not been participating. We have been focusing on further developing our RAS technology, deep farming and other Sea Based technologies and also Digital.
But saying that, of course, we are monitoring what's going on. And if we believe really there is a winner or 2 or 3, we -- our strategy is to partner with them. It could be a combination of a true partnership where we do the supply chain, scaling up production. We have the customer interface, we can do contract management. So, we can bring value to the table. And we might also take equity tickets in -- as part of our partnership. So, we have our eyes open.
Another question from Henrik Knutsen. You mentioned deep farming currently applicable for close to 60% of locations, but how many sites do you think it is very suitable for?
We are now working with what we call deep farming next. So far, we have had 2 generations of technology development. Last release was the new air dome, which made significant improvements to the farming operation.
The next generation, which will probably be released next spring, is about easiness to operate and more robust mooring. More robust mooring will enable more possibilities, in particular, in strong current. So that will secure the 60% number. And the easiness to operate is about a new Winch system. Today, it is still relatively costly to operate deep farming when you -- sometimes you have to take the fish up. It can -- it has to do, for instance, with the sea lice treatment. There are still need for sea lice treatment in deep farming, whereby the frequency is far less than in conventional farming.
There is still a need every now and then to bring up the site. That is a too big operation today. Very often a big service boat is involved. And when I'm talking easiness to operate, the new Winch system will enable the farmer to bring up the site, the deep farming installation and bring it down again without using any service boat.
We think that will open new market areas, open new markets because there are other purposes and needs for deep farming rather than just avoiding the sea lice treatment. It could be that for some months in the year, you like to go, let's say, 10 meters down because then you have a more optimal temperature. It could be 10, 20 meters. It could be that there are some algaes coming in and there are less of them in the deep. So, you bring it down for some few weeks to await the algae to disappear. It could have something to do with oxygen, et cetera.
We also see for other species, as I mentioned, the trout example in the Black Sea, the bass example in the middle Sea. We see more purposes, more areas where we can use deep farming. So, we think there is a market there for the years to come. Sorry for the long answer, but we think this is very exciting.
Thank you. We have no more incoming questions.
We give it another 10 seconds. So, if there are no more questions, thank you very much for your participation, and have a nice weekend.
Yes. Thank you.
Thank you.
Akva Group — Q3 2025 Earnings Call
Akva Group — Q3 2025 Earnings Call
📊 Quarter at a Glance
- Revenue: NOK 1.1B
- EBITDA: NOK 148M
- EBIT: NOK 89M
- Order intake: NOK 786M (soft vs. year ago)
- Backlog: NOK 2.4B
🎯 What Management Says
- Guidance: Reiterates 2025 targets of revenue above NOK 4B and EBIT at least 6%; 2026 guidance to be issued in February; 2027 target is NOK 5B revenue and 9% EBIT.
- Q4 momentum: Expects very strong Q4 order intake, aided by the NOK 220M RAS contract with Tytlandsvik; supports growth into 2026.
- Growth engines: Invests across Sea Based, Land Based and Digital, including NOK 300M in Land Based and expansion of Observe (70–80 new sites in Q4; 100+ current).
🔭 Outlook & Guidance
- Momentum: Continued growth through deep farming across Sea Based, Land Based and Digital platforms.
- Targets: 2025 revenue above NOK 4B and 6% EBIT; 2026 guidance to be released in February; 2027 target NOK 5B revenue and 9% EBIT.
- Risks: Sea Based seasonality may soften Q4; tender activity remains a driver for 2026.
❓ Analyst Q&A
- Competition: Post-smolt in sea faces regulatory nuances (Miljuflex); land-based remains competitive in normal conditions; management sees a selective winner landscape and potential partnerships or equity ties.
- Q4 cadence: Expect higher Q4 order intake; Land Based revenue/EBITDA similar to Q3 with improving margins.
- Deep farming: ~60% of sites suitable; next-gen upgrades (easier operation, robust mooring) unlock more markets (e.g., Turkey) and potential partnerships with tech winners.
⚡ Bottom Line
Q3 was solid, with NOK 1.1B revenue and a best-ever quarter. Guidance remains NOK 4B+ revenue and at least 6% EBIT for 2025; Q4 is seasonally softer, but order momentum supports 2026 growth. AKVA’s three-platform strategy (Sea Based, Land Based, Digital) positions it to capitalize on continued salmon-industry investments.
Akva Group — Q2 2025 Earnings Call
1. Management Discussion
Welcome to this Second Quarter Financial Presentation for AKVA Group. My name is Knut Nesse and I'm the CEO of the company. So I will do the introduction. Normally, I will focus on the financial for the quarter and what happened, but since we are now presenting at Aqua Nor, I will take the bigger picture and leave the financials aside and talk about the long-term salmon story.
But just 30 seconds about the numbers for the second quarter. They are good. So we are very pleased. We had a record high quarterly revenue and EBIT revenue of NOK 1.167 billion and EBIT of NOK 89 million. So very, very pleased with that. So thanks to our customers for trusting us and own employees for being part of the contribution, very much appreciated.
Acceptable order intake of a bit more than NOK 1 billion, NOK 1.052 billion, supported by the award of the EUR 20 million Laxey contract -- Land-Based contract from Laxey. Also, we got another one from Laxey in July, which is not part of the order intake for the second quarter and that was EUR 8.5 million.
And overall, we have a full focus, sharp focus on driving the implementation and development of deep farming.
Okay. So I'd like to spend my time on the long-term salmon opportunities since we have people from the industry here today. So first, a few words about AKVA Group. The recent statement of AKVA Group is pioneering a better future. We have been driving innovation for more than 50 years. If you look at the picture there to the left, you see Hans-Petter Meland in Bodø, 1973, that was with the model and the pilot of the very first plastic cage. Before that, they try different type of technologies, including wooden cages. But I decided to try plastic and work together with Helgeland Plast, which is part of AKVA Group today. And in the picture to the middle from 1974, you see there Steinar Olaisen being part of mounting the first plastic cage at the Island Lovund. So that was the very beginning of the plastic age, which seems a bit basic to say today, but it was one of the more important innovations to modernize and industrialize the salmon farming industry. All the way to 50 years later, we are now busy with Deep Farming, which is a bit of a more advanced solution in all fairness.
So we have been a technology innovator over the years in different areas like automated feeding from 1980s, feeding is in the DNA of AKVA Group. Deep Farming, as I already mentioned, over the last 5, 10 years, and we have been also one of the partners within Smolt and RAS solutions, starting with flow through and all the way to a full Land-Based solution today for ongoing. That's the next one. And also Digital, we have been really part of being pioneers there all the way back since 1980.
Okay. So if you take the high-level picture, the big picture of our industry, salmon farming industry over the last 50 years, it took 30 years to come to the first 1 million tonnes of salmon produced globally. So that was in 2001. So 30 years. Then it took another 11 years until 2012 to add another 1 million tonnes. And then another 10 years or so, 9 to be exact to 2021 to get to the 3 million tonnes. And then prior to this year, we have seen some sort of stagnation and there have been some sort of industry barriers, we call it, like fish health challenges, there have been issues with regards to regulation. And now I'm talking about Norway and Chile, not at least Canada and basically all the salmon farming regions. And the industry, we have had some issues with the social license. And at the end of the day, you need to accept from society in large, including the political community in order to be allowed to grow your industry. So there have been some issues.
A little side remark, we are utilizing some of the biological potential better this year because of lower mortality, better production and higher level of superior. So that is good for this year.
But if we continue to look at the big picture, I think growth is still fundamental. And it took, as mentioned, 50 years to get to 3 million tonnes. But there is still appetite for salmon. And at least, we believe that it should be possible to do 5% annual growth on a sustainable way with sustainable pricing from consumers. On the back of salmon still being a mega trend. So the question is how to double salmon production by 2040? How can we add another 3 million tonnes in just 15 years? We think that, that is possible, but that needs to happen on the back of new technology like deep farming, post-smolt and grow-out, and that's to overcome the industry barriers.
Just diving a little bit more into that the way we see the world. So the base is that as of last year, we had 3 million tonnes of production from a traditional fish farming. We believe that deep farming holds the potential globally to add another 15% capacity, then by reducing the lice and lowering mortality.
Post-smolt, we have many big proof of concepts there. Post-smolt comes with the potential to grow your capacity with 30% to 35% volumes. So that is adding in principal 1 million tonnes on the base of 3 million tonnes.
And then also Land-Based has the potential with maybe roughly 0.5 million tonne until 2040. That's at least what we believe.
And then there are some other emerging technologies like new vaccines and others, which will add some as well. So those -- and there are other emerging technologies, of course, it's all -- it's not easy today to know what is working in 2030 and '35. But fundamentally, we think those are the key building blocks, the way we see it today.
Then moving a little bit more into deep framing. As mentioned, potential to unlock 15%, we believe. And the positive driver is that the submerged cages are improving and then by reducing the number of sea lice treatments with up to 80%, 85%. So that is proven. We have a lot of data because we have delivered more than 200 cages in the marketplace.
So on top of the direct growth as such because you make improvements, we believe there is also an indirect potential there because some of the criticisms towards the industry has to do with mortality at [indiscernible]. So when you solve that problem, we think you will have a better agreement a better social license, and then you have more possibilities to grow your industry. So that's the more indirect consequence of solving some of the core issues. So that's why we believe that a number of 15% on the base and the base of 3 million is doable over the next 15 years.
On Deep Farming, AKVA Group, we have -- we are the market leaders. We were the first mover when it comes to driving deep farming. We did the pioneering and the pilot together with customers in Quebec. But today, we have a more big customer portfolio, 5, 6 customers and more customers are interested in this concept. So I would say we have a strong pipeline there. And as mentioned, 200 cages are already delivered. So there is a lot of real production data out there.
We believe going forward, until the year 2030, we believe it's roughly NOK 6 billion total market opportunity. And that is on the basis of roughly 600 active sites at the point in time in Norway. And we believe that based on the depth required for this technology and current and other local conditions, we believe that 50% to 60% of the sites are suitable for this technology. That means that if you do the math, then you can probably drive 50 to 70 sites a year. And that's ballpark, a NOK 1 billion market per year until 2030. So we are the market leader, and we want to drive this development and capture value down.
Then moving on to post-smolt. Post-smolt is today a proven concept, producing on, for instance, up to 1 kilo and then go to the sea and by then reducing the production time in the sea down to 7 to 9 months, it depends. So the shorter production time in the sea gives more -- yes, reduced exposure in the sea. And it comes with fewer sea lice treatments, reduced mortality and not at least, better capacity utilization of your license. So we have a very good documentation from many farming regions. Faroe Island went first and then followed by the Rogaland region. [ Tysvær ] was one of the first movers there, and they have very solid production data both on how to produce the post-smolt up to 1 kilo, but not at least performance of the smolt in the sea. That is well documented by Grieg Rogaland and [indiscernible]. So we think it's a potential to unlock 30% to 35% volume growth.
Mowi, they had their Capital Market Day, September last year. We have delivered the technology for Mowi Nordheim. We think -- I think that's the biggest small facility within Mowi. Anyway, Mowi reported about the advantages to go from 150 grams smolt to post-smolt of 700 gram. So they are saying that their data is that it reduces the number of days in the sea with 200. It reduces mortality with 50% and the treatments, mainly the sea lice treatments with 40% because of the fewer months in the sea. So -- and 5% faster growth. So those are amazing numbers. And you could add the fifth KPI as well, and that's the additional growth in terms of better license utilization. So it is, in my view, a very solid business case to drive post-smolt.
AKVA's position within this segment, post-smolt is that we are the only true global RAS supplier. I'm talking now the salmon farming industry. So we have a footprint, big organizations, of course, in Norway, in Denmark, in Chile. We are actually the only RAS supplier with presence in Chile. And we have also now built the last few years, we have built a presence in China to serve Nordic AKVA partner.
So this segment, the post-smolt segment has been true kind of development. You can see it as a step-wise evolution over the last 30 years, starting with the very basic flow through solutions and then with small recirculation units from the 2000 and then the 2010s driving technology into full recirculation, reuse and then the post-smolt. And it took some time with quite some challenges to start with. But we believe over the last years that we have more fully documented and proven technology base. And the aim for the next 5 years is to have a fully automated and intelligent fish farming. So that's the next level of development. So we think we are now ready to capitalize in what we consider to be a growth phase.
I said it came with some challenges. So we had to spend -- over the last 5 years, we have not been earning money in Land-Based. We earned some money last year, and we are doing fine this year. But before that, we actually spent NOK 300 million in different type of action, NOK 300 million, which was more about improving the technology platform, having R&D in place having documentation and data behind. So it was a big effort, big investment, but now it seems that it will be rewarded. Last year, we had a turnover of roughly NOK 600 million. And this year, we will be closer to NOK 1 billion. We have 250 skilled employees and a pretty solid order backlog.
Okay. On top of post-smolt, we also are participating in the development related to full cycle on land. And that's the Land-Based grow-out. So that has been -- it has been a tough birth in that segment as well over the last 5, 8 years. But last year, more companies started to handle this in a better way. So it was produced 25,000 tonnes of salmon, large salmon on land. So this is now starting to work. We are very pleased to work together with the Nordic Aqua partner in China, and they were able -- they are able now. They have 4,000 tonne installed capacity based on Aqua technology. And they are able to produce a large salmon of 7-kilo with extremely low mortality, less than 2%, healthy FCR and good superior and also no maturation or extremely low maturation. So we think we are getting very close and have in principle proof in concept in place there as well.
Then moving on to the third business platform, I'm talking about Sea-Based, Land-Based and now Digital. So also, we believe very much in the Digital business, I will explain in a few minutes what it is about. But also there, we have made considerable investments in the last years. Actually, we have invested as much as NOK 500 million, which is a lot of money for AKVA Group, in building the Digital platform. Majority of the money was to acquire the AI company, automated feeding company, so I'll come back to that. So today, we have 4 different solutions there, and I will explain them in a few seconds. And we are present in all the major salmon farming markets. So we consider ourselves to have a complete platform there.
To the left, you have Fishtalk, which is the leading ERP system. It's about biological control, planning and control, 6 out of 10 salmon in the world will be on our system. And to the right, you have the control system, which is about bringing the barges, pen cameras and connected to the steering software control system. And then in the middle, you have Submerge, which is an intelligent or smart camera together with Observe, that's about short-term decision-making, smart data, online data which has been developing a lot over the last few years, 5 years, I will say.
Then focusing on Observe. Observe is U.K.-based AI company, artificial intelligence, and it's about automated feeding. So we acquired 100% of the shares mid last year. We have been invested in the company for several years. But now we are -- we have 100% of the shares, which was an important decision for us. They have today more than 100 sites -- salmon sites in the world on their system, which is about moving towards automated feeding. So we have done the investments. So it's a very scalable solution there. All investments are done. Overhead in place. So in financial terms, it's very beneficial when we scale this business, and we see a major growth opportunity also in Norway here.
Then coming to an end, we see the position and the profile as AKCA as a global leader and a trusted partner. We have the 3 platforms. I mentioned Sea-Based which is roughly close to 80%, 77% of our turnover last year, to be exact. Land-based 17 last year, but that's the fast-growing business this year. It represents the majority of the step-up from NOK 3.5 billion turnover last year to NOK 4 billion. A lot is coming from Land-Base together with Deep Farming. And then Digital, which is lower in volume, but the strategic importance is very, very high. So this is just a graph showing the investments done by the salmon farmers in the last 8 years, from '15 to '23. And it shows -- and those are official public data from Fiskeridirektoratet, the Norwegian data. And it shows that the annual growth and the CAGR in investments, in technology from the side of the salmon farmer is 12% year-on-year.
So it's important to note that, that is very much higher than the growth in the number of heads in the production volume because that's more like approx 3% in the same period. So there is a kind of overinvestment in technology versus growth in volume. And the other graph here is then showing the growth of AKVA Group over the same 8 years. And that happened to also be 12%. So we are kind of growing in line with the industry. So we are growing -- the technology space is growing faster than the growth in production volume. That's the key message. And that's basically what we expect to continue now. And we have been through a few years of turnaround. Until last year, we were pleased with the performance of last year, not the previous years, but now we turn the page. And this year, we will see a pretty good step up from last year on the top line from NOK 3.5 billion to NOK 4 billion. And also, our EBIT will also improve from roughly NOK 180 million last year, a bit more and then to a minimum 6% out of the NOK 4 billion this year. So we are pleased with that development.
We expect the 12% ballpark to continue. So the target for our 2027 is NOK 5 billion turnover. And a lot of our business, like in particular, the Land-Based and Digital but also to some extent, Sea-Based. That is a very scalable business. So we have done the investments. We have the people we need in principle, and that's why we expect to see a pretty much higher EBIT on the back of a higher term or into '27.
So concluding with the key investment highlights, we are -- as already mentioned, we are fully invested. We have fully invested business platforms. I already mentioned, we invested NOK 300 million in upgrading the Land-Based and 500 million, Digital. Also, we make considerable investments in new innovation in Sea-Based. So the way I see it, it's a kind of harvest time, we are positioned for growing and see profitable growth across the trade business model. So we have an attractive business model and also financially, we are strong, and we have stability in our management team. So it should be some good years ahead. That's our expectation.
So okay, I'll leave it here and then Ronny, the CFO, he will talk you through the financials for the second quarter. So, so far, thank you very much for your attention.
Okay. Thank you, Knut. Let's continue with the our financials -- our financial numbers. So overall, we are satisfied with the financial performance in the second quarter, both a record high quarterly revenue and also a record high quarterly profit. So the revenue of approximately NOK 1.2 billion is 15% higher than last year, and the increase in revenue is primarily related to our Land-Based business. EBITDA came in at NOK 145 million, which is NOK 35 million higher than last year, and EBIT of NOK 89 million is NOK 26 million higher than in 2024. So the improved profitability is mainly related to the higher revenue level, which provides strong economies of scale.
And for the first half year, we can report revenue close to NOK 2.2 billion, which is 20% higher than in 2024. And we are on track with regards to our guidance, which is revenue of minimum NOK 4 billion in 2025. And profitability has improved significantly this year. We have an EBITDA of NOK 258 million and an EBIT of NOK 146 million. So we have guided an EBIT margin this year of 6%, the first 6 months ended at 6.7%. So it's comforting with regards to our full year guiding.
And the order intake was also acceptable in the second quarter. Total order intake just about NOK 1 billion and approximately 20% higher than in 2024. We have NOK 81 million in Digital, Land-Based with NOK 316 million is supported by the new contract from Laxey of EUR 20 million. And then we have Sea-Based with NOK 655 million in order intake, which is approximately 15% lower than in Q2 last year. So we still see high interest for Deep Farming concepts. However, we also see a seasonal profile with regards to this order intake with high tender activity in Q4 and Q1, and we also expect to see the same pattern this year with high tenders in the fourth quarter of this year and also in Q1 into 2026. So we have a solid order backlog of NOK 2.7 billion, NOK 1.6 billion in Land-Based and NOK 0.9 billion in Sea-Based.
So on this basis, we expect the Q3 revenue and also the financial performance in Q3 to be a repeat of the strong numbers we delivered in the second quarter. Some more details on the consolidated income statement. Strong revenue in the quarter, NOK 153 million higher than Q2 last year. For the first half year, 20% higher than in '24. Total revenue of NOK 2.2 billion. We see improved profitability. We have an EBIT margin of 7.7% in the second quarter and for the first half year, the NOK 146 million in EBIT is NOK 63 million higher than a year ago.
We have net financial costs of NOK 33 million in the quarter, which is also NOK 45 million for the first half year. And we are also satisfied with the profit before tax of NOK 57 million in the second quarter and the NOK 102 million for the first 6 months of 2025.
So the book-to-bill ratio for the last 12 months is good with 106%. We have an order intake of NOK 4.1 billion and a revenue of NOK 3.9 billion. And for the second quarter, we had a book-to-bill ratio of 90% positively impacted by this new contract from Laxey, the EUR 20 million contract. And we were also awarded a new contract from Laxey mid-July with an estimated contract value of EUR 8.5 million. So obviously, we have a good momentum and progress with Laxey on Iceland, and we are, of course, very pleased with this strong collaboration.
We continue to see a strong market in Nordic. Revenue was 22% higher in Q2 this year compared to last year. We also see strong increase in Australasia, driven by the NOAP project in China. The revenue was reduced both in Europe and Americas by 7% and 23%, respectively. So our Sea-Based business represented 74% of the total revenue in the quarter and the increase in the overall revenue is more or less all related to Land-Based with a 92% increase in revenue in Q2 this year compared to 2024.
We consider the EBITDA margin, the 12.4% in the second quarter to be respectable. It's an increase from the 10.8% in Q2 last year driven by increased revenue and also economies of scale. So we have a strong EBITDA margin in Sea-Based of 14.3%, supported by a very strong product mix and also, we see improved profitability in Land-Based, first and foremost, related to the higher revenue, but also to healthy project margins.
At the end of the quarter, we had available cash, including unused credit facilities of NOK 473 million. That's a reduction of NOK 27 million compared to the first quarter. So net working capital increased a bit from 8.9% to 9.4% in the second quarter. And we are satisfied that we have managed to stabilize the net working capital below the 10% level in the last 4 quarters.
And on the leverage ratio, we continue to improve in the second quarter. The NIBD EBITDA ratio was reduced from 2.47% to 2.3% in the second quarter, which, of course, is very comforting.
Net interest-bearing debt is more or less unchanged during the quarter. We paid a dividend of NOK 36 million in April, and year-to-date, we see a reduction in net interest-bearing debt of approximately NOK 130 million, which is driven by the net proceeds from the sale of our shares in Abyss Group back in March in Q1.
On CapEx, we had a total CapEx of NOK 34 million in the second quarter, 50% of this is related to our 3 innovation agendas, 1 for Sea-Based, 1 for Land-Based and one for Digital. And year-to-date, we have total CapEx of NOK 73 million.
On dividend, we paid NOK 1 in dividend on April 15 related to the first half year, and the Board in AKVA has decided to pay another NOK 1 per share for the second half year, bringing the total dividend in 2025 up to NOK 2 per share.
I'll continue with some more details on the financial performance in the 3 business segments, starting with the Sea-Based technology. So the revenue of NOK 868 million in the quarter was more or less at the same level as last year. We have a reduction in order intake of approximately 15%. Strong EBITDA margin, 14.3% driven by this high revenue, which provides strong economies of scale, and we also have this very favorable product mix. So the Nordic region experienced increase in revenue of 12%. Order intake was down by 6% compared to last year. In Americas, both revenue and order intake was reduced by 27% and 26% respectively. And last, we have Europe, Middle East. Revenue was down by 7%, but we have a decent increase in order intake of 35% compared to last year. And looking at the 12 months order intake and revenue trend for Sea-Based, we are pleased. We have seen a positive uplift in the past few quarters. The order backlog of NOK 900 million is acceptable, NOK 80 million higher than in last year, which forms a basis for a very decent revenue level in this third quarter.
With regards to the OpEx-based revenue in Sea-Based which is a very important part of our Sea-Based business was at the same level as in last year, and represented 33% of the total Sea-Based revenue. And please also note that the main part of this OpEx-based revenue is not reflected in our order backlog meaning this revenue will come on top of the NOK 900 million in order backlog.
For Land-Based, we talked about the order intake, the NOK 360 million, main part is the new contract with Laxey. And we have the strong increase in revenue in the quarter, 92% compared to last year, and revenue ended at NOK 264 million. So on the back of this higher revenue, improved project margins, we improved the EBITDA by NOK 14 million compared to last year, and EBITDA margin ended at 5.5%.
For Land-Based, we continue to see a very positive development, both with regards to the order intake trend and revenue trend. Order backlog is solid, NOK 1.6 billion which is comforting for the revenue level in the second half of '25 and also into 2026.
And last, we had Digital, which had an order intake of NOK 81 million in the quarter, which was NOK 55 million higher than last year and approximately NOK 25 million of this order intake is related to a contract awarded from an international customers regarding Observe. So this customer had already installed the recommendation module, which is the step on with Observe and has now decided to upgrade to the copilot module for automated feeding. So this contract was important milestone to AKVA, a commercial breakthrough also for the copilot module. And the rest of the order intake in Digital, approximately NOK 55 million is largely related to extension of contracts for Fishtalk and not to new sales as such. So the revenue was at the same level as last year. EBITDA margin improved from 14% to close to 22%.
As we have talked about several times, the key focus in Digital is to further grow the top line. We strongly believe that top line growth will have a significant scaling effect to the bottom line. So we see this positive shift in Digital, the order intake. The revenue still remains a flat liner. We have an order backlog of NOK 188 million end of the second quarter, which is NOK 38 million higher than last year.
So that was my financial update. So I will give it back to you, Knut, to do the outlook and the Q&A.
Okay. Thank you very much, Ronny. So in terms of outlook. We expect to see still a good focus and commercial momentum on Deep Farming. As Ronny mentioned, there is some certain seasonality when it comes to the order intake. So we expect during the next sales season, Q4 and Q1 to see some positive order intake from Deep Farming.
Also with regards to the post-smolt market, we are rather hopeful to sign a few contracts there before the end of the year. So positive there as well. And in general, we have a full focus on innovation for -- on the 3 platforms, both for Digital, Land-Based and Sea-Based. And as already mentioned by Ronny, we are aiming for revenue above the NOK 4 billion mark for this year and with a corresponding EBIT of 6%. And we have high visibility on that and a good comfort level. So we expect to deliver in line with this guidance.
So I think we leave it there and want to move to the Q&A. So we have some people in the call. So we take, of course, a question from the call, but also from you being here, the audience. So if you want to ask a question, you can raise your hand and you will be -- a mic might will be brought to you.
Any questions? Please. It's more encouraging with -- okay. Any questions from the call, Stale? All the analysts are busy this morning, too many. We have one. Good.
One on the Digital. We see that there is a lot of competition, especially on this, what you call, very decision-making cameras. Can you say something about how you view the competition there and how you position yourself compared to the rest of the space?
Yes. So you're absolutely right. Smart Camera has been growing very rapidly over the last 5 years. AKVA was probably a bit late to focus on that segment, because we have been the traditional feeding company with the feeding cameras, which, by the way, is working extremely well for us this year, the feeding cameras. So we decided a year ago, we decided to acquire a start-up company submerge, which had the same kind of AI capabilities like the 2 leading ones being OptoScale and Aquabyte. So we are clearly behind those 2. But we believe from a technology standpoint because we have validated the technology of Submerged, the company we acquired a year ago. So from a technology standpoint, we think we are now at a ballpark equal level or our biomass estimation is validated at a very high level, 98, 99. And also the sea lice counting is working, and we are now busy with developing the so-called fish health KPI dashboard. So we hope and we expect to see positive momentum with our solutions. But in that very specific space, we are the up runner, but a very interesting segment.
Please, one more.
Maybe one more on, I would say, Shield technologies. You're big in the submerged cages, but there are also a lot of things going on, on more shielded technologies. Are you doing any work there? And what's your stand on those technologies?
We have a strategy to monitor. In the last 5, 10 years, following the award of all the development licenses in Norway, there have been, I would say, between 20 and 30 different technologies being developed. Each and one of them, they have been investing a lot. So we have decided not to go into that development race ourselves. But just monitor who will be the successful one. We still believe it's a bit hard to pick the winner. But our idea will be when we see someone with proven technology with real true proof of concept, more than 3 customers, not only one believer, but a little portfolio. Then we will be prepared to consider to acquire this technology because we think the strength of AKVA will be the scalability, dealing with supply chain contract management, our footprint on services. So we think we can be a good home for one of those technologies. But so far, we have not decided to invest in any of them. So we still believe that the biggest potential in the next 3, 5 years, we believe is from Deep Farming. So -- but we are monitoring.
Any other? Okay. Anyone from the call? If no more questions, thank you very much for showing up early in the morning [indiscernible] all. So thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you for your time.
Akva Group — Q2 2025 Earnings Call
Akva Group — Q2 2025 Earnings Call
📊 Quarter at a Glance
- Revenue: NOK 1.167B in Q2; record quarterly figure, +15% YoY
- EBITDA: NOK 145M in Q2; margin 12.4%
- EBIT: NOK 89M in Q2; +NOK 26M YoY
- Order intake: NOK 1.052B in Q2; EUR 20m Laxey contract (+ July EUR 8.5m follow-on)
- Backlog: NOK 2.7B total (Land-Based 1.6B; Sea-Based 0.9B; Digital 188M)
🎯 What Management Says
- Platform leadership: three fully invested platforms (Sea-Based, Land-Based, Digital) with a scalable growth path and a strong Deep Farming pipeline.
- Long-term growth thesis: target around NOK 5B revenue by 2027 and ~6% EBIT margin in 2025, supported by post-smolt and land-based expansions.
- Capital allocation: substantial investments (Land-Based ~NOK 300M, Digital ~NOK 500M) and a data-driven strategy via Observe/Submerge for profitable growth.
🔭 Outlook & Guidance
- Guidance: revenue above NOK 4B in 2025; EBIT margin around 6% (on track).
- Seasonality & backlog: expect Q4/Q1 to lift Deep Farming orders; backlog NOK 2.7B (Land-Based 1.6B; Sea-Based 0.9B; Digital 188M).
- Growth drivers: Deep Farming, Post-Smolt, Land-Based; digital scaling with AI/automation; guidance unchanged.
❓ Analyst Q&A
- Digital competition: asked about competition in AI-driven cameras; management cites Submerge validation at 98–99% biomass estimation, positioning AKVA as an upcoming competitor with validated tech.
- Shield technologies: AKVA monitors multiple shield approaches; not investing now, would consider acquisitions only if proven with 3+ customers to ensure scale and service footprint.
⚡ Bottom Line
AKVA delivers a solid quarter with record revenue and improving profitability, underpinned by Land-Based and Digital platforms and a healthy backlog. Guidance remains: 2025 revenue above NOK 4B and ~6% EBIT margin, with a path to NOK 5B by 2027. Long-term value hinges on execution of Deep Farming, Post-Smolt and Land-Based initiatives and selective, evidence-backed tech acquisitions.
Financial data from Akva Group
Revenue
Revenue is the sum of all sales generated by a company, e.g. for its products or services.
Revenue (TTM) metric explainedDirect Costs
Direct costs are the costs incurred directly in connection with the manufacture of the product or service.
Gross Profit
Gross Profit indicates how much of the revenue remains in the company after deducting direct production costs. If the percentage share of sales is calculated, this is referred to as the gross margin.
Gross Profit metric explainedSelling and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) include all expenses for marketing and sales as well as the general administration of the company.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development costs (R&D) provide information on how much the company invests in the research and development of its products. The costs are particularly interesting as a percentage of revenue and in comparison to direct competitors.
EBITDA
EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The EBITDA margin is calculated as a percentage of sales.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation represents reductions in the value of the company's assets (e.g. due to wear and tear on machinery).
EBIT (Operating Income)
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) is the company's profit before interest and taxes, also known as the operating income. The EBIT Margin is calculated as a percentage of sales at
.
Net Profit
Net Profit represents the profit or loss after deduction of all costs.
Net Profit metric explainedStocksGuide Premium
| Jun '26 |
+/-
%
|
||
| Revenue | 4,554 4,554 |
14%
14%
100%
|
|
| - Direct Costs | 2,539 2,539 |
19%
19%
56%
|
|
| Gross Profit | 2,015 2,015 |
9%
9%
44%
|
|
| - Selling and Administrative Expenses | 1,150 1,150 |
9%
9%
25%
|
|
| - Research and Development Expense | - - |
-
-
|
|
| EBITDA | 582 582 |
9%
9%
13%
|
|
| - Depreciation and Amortization | 247 247 |
15%
15%
5%
|
|
| EBIT (Operating Income) EBIT | 335 335 |
5%
5%
7%
|
|
| Net Profit | 218 218 |
15%
15%
5%
|
|
In millions NOK.
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Akva Group Stock News
Company Profile
AKVA Group ASA engages in the provision of technology and services to the fish and farming industry. The company is headquartered in Klepp Stasjon, Rogaland and currently employs 1,500 full-time employees. The company went IPO on 2006-11-01. Its activities include design, purchase, manufacturing, assembly, sale and installation of technology products as well as rental, service and consulting services. The firm divides its operations into three business segments: Sea Based Technology (SBT), Digital and Land Based Technology (LBT). The SBT main products include Polarcirkel, Wavemaster and Akvasmart hardware brands such as: Plastic cages, steel cages, feed barges, feed systems, sensor- and camera systems, underwater lights and net cleaning systems. The LBT provides technology for water treatment technology. Main components used include mechanical filters, UV treatment, bio filters, degasser units, oxygenation, cooling/heating systems and lifting pumps. The Digital software include brands such as: Production control, planning, traceability, and ERP software for both the aquaculture and the fishing industry.
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| Head office | Norway |
| CEO | Mr. Nesse |
| Employees | 1,546 |
| Website | www.akvagroup.com |


