LandbasedAQ.com
AquaBounty has lower costs but diminishing assets
The GM salmon farmer has already sold off its food fish farm at a giveaway price and now seeks to offload its Rollo Bay ova unit to raise cash
Cash-strapped land-based salmon farmer AquaBounty reduced its net loss to US$3.4 million in the third quarter of 2024, down from a net loss of $6.1m in the same period last year.
The reduction in loss was primarily due to the sale of its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Albany, Indiana, for $9.2m. A portion of the net proceeds was used to pay off a bridging loan for the transaction.
The Indiana RAS had been used by AquaBounty to produce its AquAdvantage fish, which are Atlantic salmon that inherit a genetic modification that enables them to grow more quickly. The sale of the Indiana farm included certain equipment from AquaBounty’s uncompleted RAS facility in Pioneer, Ohio.
Less cash
AquaBounty ended Q3 with a cash balance of $500,000, a big reduction on the $8.2m held at the end of 2023. The company valued its total assets at $117.8m on September 30, down from $187.5m at the end of last year.
During Q3 2024, AquaBounty announced that it had decided to sell its Rollo Bay ova facility on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. If Rollo Bay is sold, AquaBounty will be left with a hatchery at Bay Fortune, PEI, and a RAS facility that it can’t afford to finish in Ohio.
“We continue to focus our efforts on working with our investment banking partner to extend our cash runway, while reviewing a variety of financing initiatives to maintain liquidity,” said Dave Melbourne, AquaBounty’s president and chief executive, in a press release.
Reducing costs
Melbourne explained that the Rollo Bay farm was purchased and developed to support an expansion plan for five large land-based grow-out farms.
“Since we will not require the egg output from the Rollo Bay farm in the near to mid-term timeframe, and since we will retain sufficient egg production capacity for our Ohio farm from our hatchery in Bay Fortune, we determined that the Rollo Bay farm could be sold at this time to address the company’s immediate cash requirements without impacting our long-term strategy,” said the CEO.
“We have also been working to reduce costs where appropriate and our results for the quarter show a significant reduction in both our operating spend and our net loss.
“We are fully committed to securing the pathway forward for our company and stockholders, and we will continue to work to stabilise the business in the short term and drive value creation in the long term.”