Aquaculture company Seafarms Group has rejected media reports it was considering selling its business, amid uncertainty surrounding the viability of its prawn farm in northern Australia.
Aquaculture company Seafarms Group has rejected media reports it was considering selling its business, amid uncertainty surrounding the viability of its prawn farm in northern Australia.
The ASX-listed company posted a statement to the exchange this morning, denying claims made by The Australian that it was selling some or all of its business.
The statement said Seafarms was not aware of the source of the article.
“The company wishes to confirm that it has not sought to sell part or all of its business,” the statement said.
“Seafarms is continuing its detailed assessment of the development path and opportunities for Project Sea Dragon and will report to the market once that process is complete.
“Part of that process includes an assessment of how many future development may be funded.”
Seafarms announced it would engage external consultants to undertake an assessment of its large-scale prawn farm, called Project Sea Dragon, in June 2022.
The review was flagged after a previous assessment, completed in March, recommended the project should not proceed in its current form because it would not generate acceptable financial returns.
It said the viability of the project was almost entirely dependent on farming outperformance against existing operations and competitors because nearly all other economic factors suggested it was not feasible.
When the review was announced, Seafarms Group chief executive Rod Dyer said the company still believed in the future of the project and would re-examine the matters raised in the March review in a new assessment of the development.
Aside from Project Sea Dragon, the company produces about 1,800 tonnes of prawns per year and sells them under the Crystal Bay Prawns brand.
After a pause in trading was lifted this morning, Seafarms share price remained steady at 1.3 cents each.
