It's a great pleasure for me to welcome you to Austevoll Seafood's first quarter presentation. I will first start by giving you the highlights of the quarter. Thereafter, I will go in more detail through the different segments we are operating within. Britt Kathrine Drivenes, our CFO, will take you more in detail through the numbers in the quarter, and we will end this session by giving a view on the different markets we are operating in. Before starting up, I would say that we ended last year without taking out the full potential, at least in some of our areas and some of our segments in the group. Obviously, Peru during 2023 had a challenging year with El Niño influencing both the first and the second season and had an extremely low season and lost money.
Also, I would say that the biological situation in Scotland was extremely challenging during 2023. Starting up this year, we have started the season in Peru, and so far it looks promising. It's also very pleasant to see that the Scottish operation have turned the situation and are now delivering well, in particular in biological performance. All in all, we had revenue of NOK 8.3 billion, an EBITDA more or less on the same level as last year, on NOK 1.6 billion, and EBIT including income from associates of approximately NOK 1.221 billion, more or less in line with the same quarter in 2023. We have a strong balance sheet, total assets of over NOK 53 billion, equity ratio of 52%, and a net interest paying debt of just below NOK 7 billion.
If we include the 50% earnings from Pelagia, which is our associated company, we have an EBITDA in the quarter of NOK 1.8 billion, more or less in the same level as last year, a bit lower from Lerøy and a bit higher from the rest of the pelagic activity in the quarter. Austevoll Seafood is all about volumes. As I started, I would say we had a challenging year last year where we didn't utilize both our plants and fishing vessels.
In Peru this year, we are expecting to be more or less back on a normal level and are aiming to catch in total on our own vessel around 450,000 tons of pelagic fish on our own fleet, processing just below 2 million tons of pelagic fish in our factory, and fish and process around 90,000 tons of white fish, and slaughtering 200,000 tons of salmon for the year. Starting up with the pelagic business, normally we are comparing the first season in Peru with the first season, same period last year. I will not do that because the same period last year, there was put a quota of 1 million tons, but the season was barely open before it was closed again, so the volume was extremely low. So I would say it's more accurate to look at first season 2022.
As you can see, the biomass is more or less estimated to be on the same level. Quota set in 2024 was a bit lower, but I would say on a historical average, just below 2.5 million tons. Season started up quite early, which is, of course, an advantage for us. We have now caught over 55% of the quota. If you compare it with 2022, season started up 12th of May, and season this year started up approximately 16th of April. So far, I would say good progress on the quota. It's been catching, I would say, around all our factories in Coishco, Chancay, and Pisco. The daily catch level for the first three weeks has been, I would say, on a record level compared with the latest eight years. Also pleasant to see that oil yield is coming up.
I would say it's a big variation between oil yield from our factory in South versus our factory in Chimbote. But we are seeing also that throughout the season that oil yields is coming up. I think the oil yields will end on a higher level than 3.1 as we have seen the first two and a half weeks of fishing. I would say on the negative part, temperature didn't start to normalize before April. So the catches we normally have in the South part for our factory in Ilo have not been happening. There's also been a lower fishing for direct human consumption. But all in all, good start. We are estimating our production or fishing volumes in 2024 to be almost three times higher than it was in 2023, but of course subject to IMARPE.
Looking in Chile, I would say that we have had a good start on the mackerel fishing, record quota for us. I would say it's in line with the increasing quota. It's a lot of fish. We are also seeing a mixture of different sizes now, which is, of course, good for the recruitment and an evidence that you can see down on the bottom right graph that biomass and quota is increasing in sustainable matters. Expecting this year maybe to pass the 100,000 tons level in catches and in production in our factories and have now started to produce on quota we have bought from third-party fishermen caught by our own vessels. On the negative side, I would say two aspects worth to mention. The sardine and anchovy fishery from third-party fishermen has been lower this year, 30,000 tons so far last year.
Now it's around 10,000 tons. I would say also the oil yield is a bit lower this year compared with last year. Also worth to mention that we have had a harbor strike in the main port of Coronel, which has also influenced shipping. We can also see some delays in shipping into third quarter. All in all, also a good start in Chile. North Atlantic quota, start up by saying that the quota in 2024 in total in the North Atlantic is on a historical level as you can see from the graph for the latest six years. This year, blue whiting quota is up, North Sea herring quota is up, and it's also committed a catch in the Barents Sea for capelin. On the other hand, we have a decrease in mackerel quota and a decrease in NVG herring.
Icelandic capelin didn't start up this season. All in all, another year we are expecting that we will have high fish meal volumes, but I would say higher competition for raw material in for our factories for food. Started up first quarter in the fish meal and fish oil segments with higher volumes. Anticipated earlier fishery on blue whiting in first quarter. Most of the quota is already caught in first quarter. As you can see, the expectation for the rest of the year is that total volume is a bit lower than it was in 2023. The human consumption fishery and production has been marked by two aspects. A reduction in the quota of NVG herring has led to higher competition with more pressed margins on that species.
It's also introduced landing obligation for the UK vessels delivering to the Scottish production unit. So approximately 40% of the total catch needs to be delivered back to Scotland, which has an impact on our Norwegian factories and, of course, also a positive impact on our factory in Shetland. All in all, I would say that we are delivering a bit weaker in this quarter from fish meal and oil and also from the food segments and a bit better from the health segments in Pelagia. But we are also leaving this quarter with a higher reserve on stock compared with the same quarter last year. So I would say it's more or less compensated with sales going forward. Strong balance sheets, NOK 11 billion, net interest paying debt of NOK 5 billion.
As you can see, the sales have been approximately 20,000 tons less for human consumption and approximately 4,000 tons less for fish meal and oil in the quarter. Looking into Lerøy Seafood Group, I suggest that you look at the webcast from Henning & Sjur in Lerøy in order to get an impression of or more detailed impression of how we have done it in the quarter. I would say that the first quarter has been marked by extremely low temperature all along the coast of Norway. Despite that, I would say we have delivered a quite okay and biological performance where the growth has been acceptable, I would say, in all regions. The white fish segments are delivering smaller volume or lower EBIT in the quarter and mainly based on lower quota available.
Slaughter volume for salmon is approximately 2,500 tons lower: 6,000 tons in Lerøy Aurora in the quarter, 13,000 tons in Lerøy Midt, and approximately just below 7,000 tons in Lerøy Sjøtroll. Spot prices are up approximately 5%. EBIT per kilo is around NOK 25 per kilo. It's divided between NOK 44 per kilo in Lerøy Aurora, which has a very good quarter, NOK 31 per kilo in Lerøy Midt, and approximately NOK 10 per kilo in Lerøy Sjøtroll. We are guiding our volume. We are maintaining our volume in 2024: around 175,000 tons in Norway and approximately 18,500 tons in Scotland. So altogether, 193,000 tons for the total group. In 2025, we have reduced our volume by approximately 5,000 tons.
It's mainly explained by the reduction we have in MAB as a consequence of the Norwegian traffic light system has withdrawn some MTB in the regions where Lerøy Seafood is operating. When it comes to wild catch, I would say that the performance in this segment has been good compared with the reduction in quota in the quarter. Volume for cod is around 1,300 tons lower. For haddock, it's approximately 2,300 tons lower. It's been compensated by an increase of prices for cod of approximately 11% higher and approximately 12% higher on haddock. When it comes to saithe, volume is a bit higher, but prices is approximately 22% down. It's going to be a remaining quota in 2024 on a much lower level than it was in 2023, which, of course, will have an impact on the earnings going forward into the three next quarters.
Then I give the words to you, Britt.
Thank you, Arne. We will start to sum up. There has been very good activity in the North Atlantic, both within the pelagic segments and the white fish segment. In moving over to South America, Chile has had a very good start of the year with the horse mackerel season. And in Peru, as normal, we have had a low season. Looking at the salmon and trout segment, the volumes slaughtered in the quarter is more or less in line with the same quarter last year. [Foreign language].
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Thank you, Arne. To sum up short, we have had good activity in the North Atlantic, both within the pelagic segment and the white fish segment. Moving over to South America, Chile has had a good start of the horse mackerel season. As normal, Peru has had low activity in the quarter. Looking at salmon and trout, we have slaughtered approximately the same volume this quarter compared with the same quarter last year. Revenue in first quarter, and this also includes our 50% share of Pelagia, came in at NOK 9.8 billion, up from NOK 9.5 billion. We have had an increase in all segments except Pelagia, and I will touch base on that later on. EBITDA in the quarter, and this is the operational EBITDA, came in just below NOK 1.8 billion.
That is more or less in line with last year when we had an EBITDA of a little bit over NOK 1.8 billion. Arne has touched base on the key figures, so I will not repeat everything, but I will just comment on some of the lines in the P&L. We can look into income from associates, which came in at NOK 62 million, almost the same as last year. But there are some changes in the mix where the income comes from in the quarter. The two largest companies or the two largest associates are Pelagia and Norskott Havbruk. Norskott Havbruk is the owner of Scottish Sea Farms. As we have reported earlier, Scotland had a very challenging year in 2023. It started actually in the autumn of 2022.
It's a pleasure for us to see that improvement in operation now is showing in the earnings for the company. The earnings in first quarter are up by NOK 50 million compared with the same quarter last year. Pelagia has had a very good season and a large production of finished products. However, the sales volumes are a little bit lower in first quarter this year compared to the same quarter last year. That means there will be some sales volumes that move into the upcoming quarters. However, their reserves in their inventory are higher going out of first quarter compared with the same period last year. Lower sales volume means a little bit lower income or earnings in first quarter this year compared with the same quarter last year. I also want to touch base on this fair value related to biological assets.
That varies a lot between the quarter. It's NOK 62 million in first quarter this year. But as you can see, it was substantially higher first quarter last year, NOK 460 million. Of course, this impacts our results or net results. I move on to profit before tax and fair value adjustment. That came in at just above NOK 1 billion, down NOK 100 million from NOK 1.1 billion same quarter last year. To explain it simple, we have a higher net interest paying debt and some higher interest rate levels. The net interest is up by NOK 50 million in first quarter this year compared with the same quarter last year. You can also see that our depreciation is up by NOK 50 million. That is the simple explanation. Looking into the segments, we start with Lerøy.
They have slaughtered lower volume this quarter compared with the same period last year, 26,400 tons down from 28,600 tons. Lower volumes impact the cost per kilo harvested. The price achievement is also impacted by several factors. Their share of contracts, the size of the salmon slaughtered, and also quality. As you all probably are aware of, the market has been influenced by downgraded salmon in first quarter. This is also for Lerøy. However, the company has been able to take good care of this fish through its wholly integrated value chain. The contract share in first quarter was 50% compared to 18% in the same quarter last year. Looking into the wild catch segment in Lerøy, the fishing vessels had a good catch. They have had also very good prices and very high prices for cod.
Of course, the reduced quotas for 2024 give less quotas for the remaining year. For the onshore activity, lower quotas and also higher prices on raw material are extremely challenging. Revenue in the quarter came in at NOK 7.1 billion. The EBIT came in at NOK 842 million. The EBIT per kilo ex the wild catch segment was NOK 24.9 , down from NOK 26.6 . The EBIT from the wild catch segment came in at NOK 187 million, down from NOK 229 million in the same quarter last year. As mentioned, we have had low activity in Peru. The company has used this period to do maintenance on their factories and fleet, waiting for first season 2024 to start. That started up April 16th. Luckily, we had a second season in 2023. The production of finished products from this season was sold in first quarter.
The sales volume, as you can see, is more or less in line with the same quarter last year. However, the prices for fish meal were up 13% and fish oil prices up 172%. However, of course, very low volumes sold of fish oil. Revenue in the quarter was NOK 570 million. We also got the insurance for one of the fishing vessels that we lost in November 2023 in this quarter. That is NOK 46 million. The EBITDA came in at NOK 115 million and the EBIT at NOK 57 million. In Food Corp, we have had a good start of the horse mackerel season and also a good production of frozen products. However, the coastal fleet has had a challenging start on their catch for sardine and anchoveta. There has been several stops in the season.
That means that we have purchased a lower volume of anchoveta and sardine in first quarter compared with the same quarter last year. The sales volumes of frozen fish are almost 25,000 tons, up from 21,000 tons. The price achievement is up by 8%. Revenue in the quarter, NOK 325 million, EBITDA of NOK 122 million, and an EBIT of NOK 108 million. That is in line with the same quarter last year. There is a strike going on in the harbor of Coronel. That means that there are some delays in our shipments of frozen products now in the second quarter. So there will be more sales going into third quarter. Br. Birkeland Farming has slaughtered 3,200 tons, up from 2,400 tons. They sell all the fish in the spot market. The spot prices are up.
However, the price achievement for the company has been impacted by downgraded fish due to winter wounds. The revenue in the quarter was NOK 314 million. The EBIT is NOK 106 million. That is more in line with the same quarter last year. However, we can see that EBIT per kilo is down. It's NOK 33 this quarter, down from NOK 44 in the same quarter last year. This is a combination of a little bit lower price achievement, but mainly due to higher cost. The four fishing vessels have all had good activity in the quarter. The two pelagic vessels have caught blue whiting and capelin. The blue whiting fishing started early. It was a very good fishery going on in February. Both of the vessels have caught their quota within first quarter. Last year, the blue whiting fishing also took place in April.
The two vessel fishing snow crab have caught a little bit over 800 tons, up from 665 tons last year. The snow crab fishery is still Olympic. In the middle of March, the total quota was finalized for the snow crab fleet, and the fishery was stopped. Last year, this quota was caught in the beginning of April. Revenue in the quarter, NOK 155 million, EBITDA of NOK 70 million, and an EBIT of NOK 54 million. Br. Birkeland has entered into an agreement to sell the two pelagic vessels or the companies owning the two pelagic vessels. Subject to completion of the share sales, this will give a cash effect to Br. Birkeland AS of a little bit less than NOK 2 billion. Austevoll Seafood owns close to 43% of Br. Birkeland AS. Moving over to our financial position, we have a strong balance sheet.
The total assets are NOK 53.6 billion. As we have talked about earlier, we have inflation and also increased activity has given us some higher working capital. In first quarter, we have an increase in our biomass related to salmon and trout. We have a higher volume. We also have a higher weight on the biomass in sea. So you can see that the biological asset at cost is NOK 6.5 billion. It's up from NOK 5.5 billion same quarter last year and NOK 6 billion by the end of 2023. The booked equity is NOK 28 billion. The equity ratio is 52%. That is down from the same quarter last year. However, this resource rent tax was implemented in second quarter 2023 in our tax cost. The implementation effect alone was NOK 1.8 billion. That has impacted the equity ratio, as you can see.
This was not implemented in first quarter. So it's not comparable. Net interest bearing debt by the end of March was close to NOK 7 billion, up from NOK 6.7 billion by the end of 2023. Looking at cash from operating activities, that was close to NOK 600 million. We have touched base on increased working capital. You can also see that we have paid taxes, NOK 443 million in first quarter this year, up from NOK 103 million in the same quarter last year. Cash from investing activities is a little bit less than the same quarter last year. In addition to maintenance capex, we also invest in shielding technology within farming. We also do some improvement in the smolt facilities and also some investment within white fish. Not much to say about the cash from financing activity.
It's NOK 214 million, more or less in line with the same quarter last year. We have a net change in cash of NOK 337 million in the quarter and gives us a cash position by the end of March of NOK 5.8 billion. Last, the board has recommended to the annual shareholder meeting in 2024 to be held on May 29th, a dividend of NOK 4.5 per share. If this is approved by the shareholders' meeting, we plan to pay the dividend around the 12th of June.
I will end this session by giving our small view on the market, starting with the fish meal production. So far this year, the volumes are down compared with the same period last year. But I expect this to recover during the next quarterly presentation when we have the outcome of the fish meal production, in particular from Peru. When the quota was announced and during the start of the fishing period, we have seen also a drop in fish meal prices. Low quality is around $1,600 per ton. High quality fish meal is around $1,845 per ton. The gap between high quality and low quality has decreased. I would say that has been a normal development looking at prices.
China, the major market, looking at the stock level in China, you can see that the stock is up 9% compared with the same period last year. Also the offtake now is a bit higher than it was on a weekly basis now compared with the same period last year. You can also see that current prices traded in China are higher than the Peruvian prices. This stimulates to, I would say, an increased trade as well. Looking at fish oil, volume down by 26.3%. As I mentioned, pleasant to see that the oil yields are recovering in Peru. We are also expecting that it will continue increasing volumes from Peru this season compared with the same season last year. I would say, all in all, lower yields in Chile, better yields in Peru.
In volume, I think it's going to be a higher production this year compared with the same 2023. Prices, feed grade now around $7,000 per ton. I would say it's a waiting position looking at the omega-3 grade. I think it could be a downside in these prices, as mentioned here. Looking at the Atlantic salmon supply, zero growth in 2024. The underlying fundamentals on the supply side, I would say, looking good to have a strong market also going in for the rest of the year and also, I would say, into 2025. Spot prices in Norway, in first quarter, you can see it's up in NOK. But I would say it's unchanged in euros. The increase you see on this table is more or less based on the weakening of NOK versus euro.
The main market for Atlantic salmon, still EU for us, is the main market. It's an increase of 5%. Other markets are down by 1%. The U.S. market is down by 2%. All in all, I would say that it's a positive start in 2024 when it comes to biological performance. We have done some significant improvements in the whole value chain, I would say, from roe to smolt quality, new farming technology. Also, we are improving our processes as well. All in all, hopefully, we are better prepared to meet the summer this year than we were last year, where we were not happy with our performance. Guiding on 193,000 tons this year, which is substantially up from last year. White fish is going to be challenging this year. It continues to be challenging next year.
Lower quota and also a new quota law has been implemented, moving cod from the trawler fleets to the coastal vessels are challenging our operation. We are expecting, I would say, the next three quarters to be challenging and also 2025 to be challenging. Good to see in South America. The start in Peru has been okay. The progress has been on a very good level. I would say that we are expecting probably to sell most of our production into third quarter. Hopefully, this is a picture of the recovery of our operation in Peru. Chile as well, very good quarters in first quarter. As I said, we are expecting that it will be probably some moving from second to third quarter of sales, particularly on frozen products, mainly due to a port strike in Coronel where we were having our factories.
North Atlantic is still a good quarter from Pelagia. We are seeing pressed margins in the food segments. Feed segments are having good volumes. I would say also the health segment is delivering well into first quarter. We are leaving the quarter now with a higher reserve on our stock versus the same period last year. So that was all. Thank you for watching.