New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited (NZX/ASX: NZK) today announced a substantial upgrade to its earnings guidance for the 2026 financial year. The company is a leading aquaculture business specialising in the farming and supply of King Salmon products across various markets. The Board now anticipates pro-forma EBITDA to be in the range of $19 million to $27 million, a considerable increase from the previous guidance of $9 million to $15 million. Similarly, pro-forma EBIT is now expected between $10 million and $18 million, up from a potential $3 million loss to a $3 million profit.
Carl Carrington, New Zealand King Salmon CEO, attributed the revised outlook to the successful completion of the summer farming period, historically a challenging time for fish performance forecasts. Mr Carrington noted improved confidence in fish performance, with mortality levels over summer being lower than initially projected and strong feed-out rates maintained. This has resulted in the company having a greater quantity of fish available for sale, coupled with an overall enhancement in their size and quality. Consequently, the expected FY26 harvest whole gilled and gutted volume range has also increased to 5,800MT to 6,100MT, up from the prior range of 5,500MT to 5,900MT.
The improved performance is a result of several contributing factors, including the implementation of a new summer feed diet informed by prior financial year trials, alongside a strong focus on operational execution at sea farms. Enhanced fish performance has also led to greater operational efficiency, as higher biomass available for harvest helps reduce unit costs across farming and processing operations. This efficiency enables the company to direct more fish towards higher-returning products and markets. While aquaculture performance during the remaining months of the financial year is typically stable, supporting confidence in the guidance uplift, the Board has broadened the guidance range.
This broadened range accounts for potential short-term external uncertainties that could impact the balance of FY26 results. These include possible effects on the availability and cost of air freight to key markets, as well as increased production and supply chain costs stemming from global oil price movements, linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. New Zealand King Salmon will continue to monitor these factors and intends to provide further market updates as appropriate, with its half-year financial results scheduled for release in late May.
