Financial statements for Samherji Holding show operations on solid foundations
Net profit from the operation of the international fisheries company Samherji Holding ehf. amounted to EUR 27.4 million in 2020 and EUR 1.4 million in 2019.
Samherji Holding's operations include fishing, land processing, marketing and sales, and transport operations. The financial statements were approved at the company's annual general meeting on December 29, 2021. It has not yet been possible to verify sufficiently data from the Namibian operations, which have now been discontinued and classified as such in the consolidated financial statements. In addition, there is still uncertainty about litigation due to financial settlements related to the operations in Namibia. For these reasons, the Board of Samherji Holding ehf., in its report, issues a reservation, or a qualified opinion, regarding the financial statements of the company that ran the operations in Namibia. The auditors for Samherji Holding give the same qualified opinion. In other respects, the auditors provide an unqualified audit opinion.
The uncertainty mentioned above caused a delay in preparing the consolidated financial statements. The Board considered it important to try to get as precise information as possible about these aspects before the statements were finalized.
A financially sound company
Samherji Holding's income from sold goods amounted to EUR 308.6 million in 2020, according to the financial statements for that year. It decreased somewhat compared to the previous year when it amounted to EUR 355.7 million. The Group's assets amounted to EUR 585.4 million at the end of 2020, compared to EUR 627.0 million at the end of 2019. Equity amounted to EUR 393.2 million at the end of 2020, while at the end of 2019, the Group's equity amounted to EUR 392.4 million.
By far, the most substantial part of the operations of Samherji Holding is fisheries companies in Europe and North America. Foreign companies include Deutsche Fischfang Union (DFFU) in Cuxhaven, Germany's oldest fishing company. Samherji Holding has been involved in the operation of DFFU for over a quarter of a century with good results. The sales company Seagold and the fisheries company Onward Fishing in the UK, and companies in Norway and Canada, are among others. In all of these companies, great emphasis has been placed on investments so that their infrastructure, equipment and other working conditions of employees reflect the best available at any given time.
Board elections were held at the above-stated annual general meeting of Samherji Holding and Eiríkur S. Jóhannsson, Óskar Magnússon, Kristján Vilhelmsson, Helga Steinunn Gudmundsdóttir and Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson were elected to its Board of Directors.
A positive outlook for the future
"As the financial statements reflect, Samherji Holding is a strong company with great potential for the future. The economic and liquidity situation is good, and the work that has been undertaken in recent months will prove succesful. Despite setbacks in the operations, I am optimistic about the future because we have qualified employees. Samherji Holding is an international fisheries company with operations around the world. Icelanders should not be shy about participating in business operations abroad. We should utilize the high level of education, our knowledge and experience in corporate operations in other countries," says Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji Holding ehf.
Key figures from the consolidated financial statements of Samherji Holding are listed below (in Icelandic).
