Chilean salmon stock prices unaffected by virus, analyst says
Latest analysis shows no fish have caught the HSMI virus detected in April.
Contrary to a recent Bloomberg report attributing a 17-month low in stock prices of the Chilean company MultiExport Fooods to a virus in Chilean waters, a Chilean analyst says the virus – which has had no affect on fish – cannot be blamed for the stock’s long term status.
“I don’t think it has had an effect on the companies,” Aquaculture Analyst Ignacio Spencer, with Chilean-based IM Trust, told IntraFish, referring to “heart and skeletal muscle inflammation” (HSMI), a virus found in salmon. “All this noise about viruses and the sanitary risks always put some pressure on the price and makes it decrease, but to say for sure that it was the finding of the HSMI virus, that is not right."
When Bloomberg’s report came out Oct. 11, the stock price for MultiExport Foods, the most liquid Chilean salmon stock, hit its lowest mark this year. However, all salmon prices have been declining since the year began. MultiExport’s share price rebounded by 7 percent on the following day.
Some say the ISA virus that racked the Chilean salmon industry for years has caused investors to become overly sensitive to viruses, but Spencer argues that is not the case.
“The investors are learning that not all sanitary noise is negative,” Spencer said. “Some doesn’t affect the company.”
Sernapesca is conducting a study on the disease and will issue a report later this year on the next steps needed to respond to April’s detection.
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