Good day and welcome to the MHG Meeting Event Information international conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to the CFO, Mr. Ivan Vindheim. Please go ahead.
Morning, everybody. As usual, we go through the presentation. We start on page three, highlights. Operational EBIT of NOK 719 million in this quarter. Good contribution from Norway on the back of good sales contracts. The net total price achievement for Norway, despite that the spot price was down, was actually quite even compared to the second quarter last year. Challenging market conditions in Americas. We saw relatively good underlying demand in Europe if we adjust for Easter, the depreciation of the NOK during the second quarter, and Russia. The first quarter has started very good with good prices in Europe. In terms of Europe and the demand, we are positive. Furthermore, the merger process with AquaChile was terminated in the second quarter. We initiated a de-listing process of Marine Harvest Chile.
Supported by the operating results, cash flow, strong forward markets, and a solid financial position, the board has decided to pay out a quarter dividend of NOK 1.30 per share to shareholders in the form of repayment of paid-in capital. Over to page four and the key financials. Turnover was quite stable year-on-year, NOK 6.6 billion in the second quarter this year, as against NOK 6.6 billion in the same quarter last year. Despite a decline in harvest volumes of approximately 9%, from 114,000 tons to 104,000 tons. The main explanation is the new business segment, Feed, which contributed with NOK 0.5 billion this year and zero last year. We started operations in Bjugn or in our Feed business segment in the third quarter last year. Operational EBIT already mentioned, NOK 719 million. Cash flow from operations a little bit more, NOK 729 million. Net interest-bearing debt, NOK 7.7 billion.
Underlying earnings per share, NOK 1.10. Net cash flow per share, NOK 1.18. Dividend distributed in this quarter and declared the last quarter, NOK 1.30 per share. Annualized Return on capital employed, 9.6%. As already mentioned, harvest volumes of 104,000 tons. The operational EBIT in total NOK 6.9 this time, NOK 9.80 in Norway, NOK 5.44 in Scotland, Canada NOK 2.12, and Chile negative NOK 4.64. We will come back to the details on these profit numbers later on in the presentation or the walkthrough. Over to page five and the reference price. Prices in Europe at relatively good levels in the second quarter, taking into account the Easter in the first quarter, not the second quarter, as it was in 2014. We also had some difficulties with the Russian ban. We also saw a weakening of the NOK during this quarter.
All in all in Europe, but in the second quarter, quite good levels. As already mentioned previously on page three, the prices in the first quarter have started very good and they are substantially above the same level in the first quarter last year so far. Weak prices in Americas due to slow demand and the Canadian supply increase. Over to page six and the price achievements. Good price achievements in all markets. In Norway, Scotland, good help from contracts. In Canada, which is more or less the spot oil market, in line with the reference price, and somewhat above in Chile. Over to page seven and the operational EBIT waterfall. The big change this time is related to farming. 566 NOK million less in profit contribution on the back of lower volumes, approximately 100 NOK million. Lower prices measured in krone.
I.e., there are some FX effects there of approximately NOK 200 million, and the rest is cost. Also here, some of it is related to FX changes. It's not a secret that underlying cost is turning upwards. Over to page eight, Norway Farming. An operational EBIT of NOK 727 million. NOK 9.80 in operational EBIT per kilo. If you look at the waterfall there, you can see that the price achievement, despite lower spot prices, are actually a little bit up because of favorable contracts. Contribution from lower volumes, negative, and also increasing cost, which all in all has taken down the operational EBIT per kilo from NOK 12.16- NOK 9.8. Over to page nine and the sales contract portfolio in Norway. The contract coverage in the second quarter was 33%. In the third quarter, our Norwegian volumes will go down.
I.e., although the contracts in absolute terms are quite stable, percentage-wise, it will go up from 33% in the second quarter to 38% in the third quarter at attractive levels. Over to page 10 and Operational EBIT per kilogram. That's 2015, it's in the red bars there. This time you can see they are quite stable. The biological challenges we have had in Norway so far this year have impacted all our regions negatively. Over to Scotland on page 11. Operational EBIT of NOK 67 million, which is equivalent to NOK 5.44 per kilogram. Results are impacted by biological challenges in the second half of 2014. I.e., the opening balance of the biomass was high cost-wise. Prices in local markets negatively affected by strengthening of the GBP, which follows the U.S. dollars. As you have already seen, they had good contribution from contracts.
We expect volume recovery in the second half of this year. All else being equal, that will normally lead to lower costs, that's the economies of scale. Over to page 12 and Farming Canada. Operational EBIT of NOK 35 million, which is equivalent to NOK 2.12 per kilogram. From the waterfall, you can see that the problem for Canada is the price and its main market, the U.S., cost-wise. They actually have had a substantial improvement year-on-year. Much of it is explained by volumes. They have almost doubled their volumes year-on-year. Economies of scale have been a very important factor for our Canadian operation in the second quarter. I think it's important to mention that the summer in Canada has been extremely warm. Consequently, we may, as a result, see some cost hits going forward.
We don't know, but it would not surprise us. There is a good reason for being a little bit careful when we are forecasting our costs in Canada for the second half this year. Over from page 12 to page 13, Chile. We lost money in Chile in the second quarter. A very troublesome market, as you can see from the waterfall. Cost is also up. Adjusted for insurance coverage, the underlying cost in the second quarter was as high as $4.9 per kilo. High cost and a very poor market in the U.S. The Brazilian market has also developed poor because of the weakening of its currency, real versus U.S. dollars. Over to page 14, Ireland and the Faroes. A very good quarter for Ireland this time. NOK 18 per kilogram in EBIT. In the Faroes, no volumes.
They will start off harvesting again as from the fourth quarter this year. Over to page 15, Consumer Products. A slight improvement year-over-year, but with a return on sales of 2.1%, I think we can state that. We still do not have satisfactory earnings. We are very happy to announce that we have entered into a new contract for our Rosyth factory in Scotland, which is extremely important for our development within this part of the business segment. We have also seen strong growth in Southern Europe and Germany. France is stable but still challenging on smoked products. Once again, a slight improvement year-on-year, but still not satisfactory for Consumer Products profit-wise. Over to page 16 on Feed. Feed has had another good quarter.
Normally, the second quarter is quite poor for Feed because of the seawater temperatures and a low growth period in Norway, seasonal wise. Despite that, they managed to make a return on sales of 5.3%. A good quarter for Feed. Much about the introduction. Over to our financial details. I will not go through all the numbers since we have already visited them. Page 18, we just skip and go directly over to page 19 and our balance sheet. Total balance sheet this time amounts to NOK 35 billion, which is up from NOK 31.7 billion in the same period last year. The main explanation of the increase is the Acuinova acquisition and organic growth. net interest-bearing debt, NOK 7.7 billion at the end of the quarter. equity ratio at solid 51%. Over to page 20 and the cash flow.
We started the quarter with a net interest-bearing debt of NOK 7.5 billion. We had an operational EBITDA of NOK 1.0 billion. We released a working capital of NOK 118 million. The second quarter is the quarter we pay tax in Norway. This time, NOK 345 million. Other adjustments, NOK 68 million. Cash flow from operations NOK 729 million, which is a little bit above the operational EBIT. Net CapEx of NOK 421 million, which is in line with our forecast. Of the investments consist of the sale of our Havfisk shares and the stake we have in Nova Sea, plus dividend from Nova Sea. This time, net cash of investments as low as negative NOK 59 million. Net interest negative NOK 16 million. Other items, which it's mainly FX related to other items than net interest-bearing debt, negative NOK 145 million.
Dividends distributed NOK 585 million. The FX effect of the net interest-bearing debt of negative NOK 47 million. All in all, from NOK 7.5 billion to NOK 7.7 billion. Quite stable in terms of net interest-bearing debt. Over to page 21 and cash flow guidance. No changes since last time we spoke. I just think we can go directly over to page 22 and the overview of our financing. We have extended our bank facility from EUR 555 million to EUR 805 million at the exact same terms, which we find attractive. Covenants, only one covenant, and that's the equity ratio. We do not have any earnings requirement. No changes related to the convertible bond beyond adjustment of the conversion price related to the dividend. No changes related to the hybrid bond. Over to supply and demand, page 23 and supply.
Global supply growth in the second quarter was in line with previous guidance. Low growth from Norway and Europe. Substantial supply growth from Canada due to recovery here, and the decline in volumes from Chile as expected. Over to prices, page 24. Prices were down in Europe in the second quarter, but I think it's very important to bear in mind that Easter this year was in the first quarter and in the second quarter last year, so we must adjust for that. In addition, we have the Russian ban. We also saw a strengthening of the NOK during the quarter. Adjusted for those effects, I think the prices in the second quarter in Europe were quite decent.
As already mentioned twice, the third quarter has started very well in Europe at very attractive prices. That being said, we normally see seasonality in Europe in the second half, and we think we will see that this year as well. The Americas, poor price development. Not only in the second quarter, but also in the first quarter. We also saw that in 2014, slow demand in the U.S. Over to page 25 and the demand volume distribution per market. Stable and good demand in EU, except for Eastern Europe, FX and Russia, as already mentioned. Weak demand in the Americas at low prices. China, Hong Kong influenced by lack of large size salmon and trading barriers. That being said, we see a positive underlying consumption trend for Asia, and we think that Asia will continue to grow also in the years to come.
Over to industry supply outlook on page 26. We have taken the 2015 guidance somewhat down since last time we presented our figures, i.e. in the first quarter in Europe due to a cold summer. For the third quarter, we think the supply global-wise will be a plus/minus break-even or zero, somewhat up in the second quarter. The supply situation adjusted for seasonality looks good for the second half. For 2016, it's also positive. According to Kontali, the analyst agency, a 2% growth in 2016 worldwide is likely, and that bodes well for the prices going forward. It's also a very good sign for getting a continued tight market balance. Over to our internal volumes on page 27.
We are not only taking down the industry supply outlook, our harvest volumes are also down from 440,000 tons- 430,000 tons on an annual basis in 2015, of which 9,000 tons are in Norway due to the cold summer. We think that what has hit our numbers will also hit the entire industry in Europe. Something else would be strange. Over to page 28 and the outlook. To sum up, a very favorable supply outlook going forward. A strong future price next month of NOK 42 per kilo. A relatively good underlying demand in the European and Asian markets. Development in the American market definitely remains a concern. We must continue to work with the American market through introducing more value-added concepts and new products. We are also very happy to announce the new long-term retail contract we got in the second quarter at good prices.
Supported by operating results and the strong forward markets, our board has declared a quarter dividend this time of NOK 1.30 per share. Pascal, that was the presentation. I think we open up for Q&A. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Mr. Vindheim. If you would like to ask a question at this time, please press the star or asterisk key followed by the digit one on your telephone. Please ensure that the mute function on your telephone is switched off to allow your signal to reach our equipment. If you find that your question has already been answered, you may remove yourself from the queue by pressing star two. Again, please press star one to ask a question. We will pause for just a moment to allow everyone to signal. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, you can press star one. We currently have no questions in the queue