The Scottish Salmon Company said revenues for the third quarter rose to £25.1 million from £18 million last year but it made a loss before tax of £12.7 million as “unprecedented mortalities and biological challenges” took their toll on the company’s performance.

The Edinburgh-based and Norway-listed firm said: “Year on year performance was stable with market prices remaining strong.

“Unprecedented mortalities and biological challenges have, however, impacted on expected harvest volumes with a lower mean weight of fish harvested.

“As a result, operating costs have increased and earnings have dipped, with exceptional costs resulting in an EBITDA loss of £1.4 million.”

Craig Anderson, managing director at The Scottish Salmon Company, said: “This quarter has been challenging and, like many other operators in the sector, results have been impacted by biological issues.

“We have been working for some time to develop effective long term solutions to tackle these industry wide issues, such as the use of cleaner fish to combat sea lice.

“In the shorter term, we are using a range of established best practice methods to manage the situation.

“We remain focused on growing our business and developing our export markets to enable us to capitalise on the continued demand for premium Scottish Salmon.

“Maragay Mor, our new site in the Hebrides has been commissioned and is an important element in delivering our strategy of long term sustainable growth.”