MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pescanova seems to be turning around following a severe financial purge

According to the official document, Pescanova’s sales totaled 434 million Euros between January and June 2014

The approval of the creditors’ agreement considering reductions over 90% of the debt helped the Galician multinational firm Pescanova achieve a net profit of EUR 1,790 million in the first half of this year. The six-month accounts submitted to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) show the cancellation of the firm’s bulky insolvency has meant the entry of EUR 2,3 million, which in the accounts figure as income.

 The document specifies that Pescanova’s sales totaled 434 million Euros between January and June 2014, and its operating income before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was 27 million Euros. For the company, these results indicate “that the improvement in operating profitability that began in the second half of 2013 continues.”

Last year, the group's total turnover exceeded 2,000 million Euros.

With respect to the equity gap -- which before the creditors’ meeting exceeded 1,600 million Euros--, the Galician company confirmed its reduction to 450 million Euros, the newspaper La Voz de Galicia informed.

“This evolution of the business is considered really positive, since it has been possible for the insolvency situation faced, not to affect the level of supply and service to both direct customers and end consumers,” the company pointed out in the report.

Despite Pescanova’s financial sanitation and the already registered positive values, the subsidiaries are not in the same situation and they still experience insolvency proceedings so that the parent company reveals a negative value.

Since the Court sentenced the ruling on Pescanova creditors’ agreement approval -- on 23 May -- this company and Pescafina have considered their respective insolvency proceedings ended.

“The improvement in the group’s financial position as well as that of the parent company is a first and important step for the complete financial restructuring and economic feasibility of Pescanova’s group,” the company added, according to the newspaper Faro de Vigo.

The multinational accounts in 2011 revealed 260 million Euros in losses and a capital gap of 791 million Euros. The 2012 accounts showed a negative net capital worth 1,522 billion Euros, and those from 2013 recorded losses for 719 million Euros with a capital gap of 2,237 million, according to the official Spanish news agency EFE. (FIS).