Fish analyst Lohi states:
This may be due to the customer’s weak liquidity, but a reason related to the failure of Fifax’s fish deliveries (e.g., volume, size, quality) cannot be completely ruled out with certainty.
The press release is very vague and certainly doesn’t tell the whole truth. It’s also strange that the customer’s name is not mentioned, when Fifax, to my knowledge, only has one customer and its name has been published previously - fish food company Kalavapriikki.
Fifax, an Ålandic rainbow trout recirculating aquaculture system grower, and Kalavapriikki, a fish food company from Kuopio, have signed a long-term framework agreement. According to the framework agreement, Kalavapriikki commits to purchasing a significant portion of Fifax’s estimated rainbow trout production.
This customer’s result has been very weak in recent years, but the reason is investments.
Kalavapriikki is part of the Heino Group, so financing is unlikely to be an issue. This is the same Heino holding company that sold its Heino Tukkuri (wholesale business) to Valio a few years ago.
The company’s turnover grew strongly last year, no information on profit.
Heino states in its sustainability report that the company focuses on growth rather than profit.
Kalavapriikki’s investments in new production facilities and a modern filleting line have enabled significant growth and product quality development in 2024. Although large investments caused temporary challenges to profitability, in the long term they support efficiency and competitiveness.
I don’t believe Kalavapriikki would have liquidity problems; rather, the cessation of payments would point more to supply or quality issues.