Aquatic Foods serves up revenue increase in first three quarters of 2015

Marine foods and seafood producer Aquatic Foods posted an increase in revenue in the first three quarters of the year.

In the nine months to 30 September, the group said revenue rose 20% year-on-year to 678.7m Chinese yuan (£70m), although it warned gross margin in the third quarter was under the cosh because of challenging market conditions.

Sales of fish product jumped 32% year-on-year in the third quarter, driven higher by strong sales of cod, mackerel and greenling, while the group’s product mix suffered demand changes in the quarter, which drove the average price per kilogram of processed fish lower.

Cephalopod sales fell 11% in the nine months, due to slowing demand in China, while sales of gift boxes also decline in the third quarter, with sales falling 13% year-on-year as a result of the Chinese government policy to discourage the practice of gift-giving.

"While the group continues to expand its sales in [China], the trading environment has become more challenging reflecting wider factors in the Chinese economy,” the group said.

“Consequently the group is seeking to exploit new sales channels by specifically targeting sales to [Chinese] supermarkets, a more resilient part of the Chinese foods market.”

Aquatic Foods said it remained upbeat over the medium term outlook and was on track to meet its annual goals.

Aquatic shares were up 10.97% to 34.40p at 1240 GMT on Tuesday.