What: Fish farming company
Where: Northern Norway, Andøya island
Status: Startup/growth
Exchange: Norway / Oslo / Merkur (Euronext Growth)
Size: approx. 170 MEUR
Price: 30 NOK
(Images in the post are from the investment presentation. I recommend reading through it.)
Like many other Finns, my holiday trip took me to the vicinity of the Lofoten Islands. Driving along the main road of Andøya island, one couldn’t miss the large construction site on the outskirts of a small village. “Land-based salmon farming,” the locals said.
ESG darling par excellence
True to its name, Andfjord Salmon builds salmon farming pools which, according to the Norwegian state’s long-term vision, would be the best way to raise fish instead of net-pen farming. Net-pen fish escape and are prone to diseases. The nutrients produced by the fish masses are also one of the problems.
Since 2023, Norway has taxed sea-based salmon farmers with a 25% “fjord tax” (resource rent tax) on the value added in the sea. Land-based operators avoid this tax. Political winds can turn and tax rates change, but the trend in this capital-intensive business aligns with ESG ideals, whether one likes it or not.
Founded in 2014, the company attempts to solve the aforementioned problems using a flow-through system. The pool water is not recycled as in typical RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture System) systems; instead, the water used in the pools—which is replaced 16 times a day—is taken from the sea at a depth of dozens of meters. Algae and fish diseases do not thrive in deep waters, and there are no other net-pen farms in the nearby areas, which reduces the risk of disastrous mass fish deaths.
The water has a steady temperature, and while it isn’t optimally warm for fish growth, the cooler water should favor fish activity and result in better meat quality. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, the water is exceptionally warm for the location, which was a significant reason for placing the farm on this particular coast.

The water is purified before being returned to the sea, and the waste produced by the fish is cleaned from the pools using robots. There are plans to turn the waste into biogas, and at this stage at the latest, ESG funds are pushing their money forward. So, excuse my Anglicism, where’s the catch?
Large-scale startup
In a village called Kvalnes, one test pool (1,000 t) was built to practice construction and farming techniques. The first farming cycle began in the summer of 2022, and a year later, the survival rate for the smolt was 97.5%. The starting weight was approx. 100 g and the harvest weight was between 1-6 kilos. Most significant was proving the technology mature for growth. Based on these results, investors and banks were brought on board.

The plan is to grow rapidly from the 1,000-tonne pool at Kvalnes to 40,000 tonnes (HOG - head on gutted) by 2030 through a combination of equity, debt, and cash flow (estimated plan).
According to the CEO, the equity portion for construction costs is already secured. The excavation and infrastructure work for Phase 1 (pool foundations, harbor, etc.) is being built front-loaded, so further expansion will be cheaper than the initial phase, and there will be no production interruptions due to construction work. Currently, farming operations are suspended due to extensive excavation work.
A construction loan (825 MNOK) has been negotiated (NIBOR +3.5%, 2-year grace period), and with the share issues (06/2023 and 05/2024), the rest is “only” (sarcasm warning) down to the company’s own performance and, of course, the price obtained from the salmon market. The total budget for the Kvalnes construction (phases 1-6) is estimated at 150 million euros.
Construction of Kvalnes Phase 1 has progressed faster than scheduled and within budget, with the most difficult stages now behind them. The target to start production operations (=stocking fish) is in the summer of 2025, and the first sales batch will be ready 12-15 months after that, so the stock is not for the impatient.
It could still go south, so why should this be of interest?
Compared to net-pen salmon farming, land-based farming is more expensive as an investment, but in Andfjord’s case, the larger scale and lower production costs make investing at this stage attractive. In the private placement in Spring '24, the share price was 33 NOK, so at the current price, there’s a discount of around 10%.
The EBIT chart in the investment presentation shows the company’s own estimate of sensitivity to the market price of salmon. At the lower end, EBIT would accumulate to 360 MNOK, making the market cap 5.5 x EBIT. Premium fish should command a better price compared to net-pen salmon, but pessimism and safety margins are appropriate. The company’s ability to manage a larger production volume is untested.
In the Fifax analysis conducted by Pauli Lohi, the EBIT multiples for comparable traditional fish farmers varied between 7-11. These can provide some direction on whether the current share price is considered expensive or not.

The EBIT example is naive and does not account for simultaneous construction project costs, not to mention other unexpected expenses. The company’s own EBIT estimate may be optimistic, but it is currently the best metric available.
The fact that early-stage construction work has stayed on budget and schedule gives some support to the largest cost item, and as operational costs are assumed to be lower than competitors’, cash flow should be sufficient for expansion carried out with leverage.
Due to the pace of expansion, there shouldn’t be a risk of heavy taxation on dividends for years, especially if the company’s plans to expand operations later to the villages of Breivik and Fiskenes on the same island come to fruition.
Final Clause
For the patient waiter. I bought my first batch today at a price of 30 NOK. If there are those among us who know more about fish farming, I welcome any counter-arguments with joy. I won’t be surprised, however, if I end up updating this thread occasionally all by myself ![]()

