Fish farmer Tassal says the integration of De Costi Seafoods is going swimmingly, despite the group's first half profit dropping 16.6 per cent.
Tassal acquired De Costi in July through a $50 million deal which saw the company expand its business from salmon to include other seafood.
Chief executive Mark Ryan said on Thursday a restructure of De Costi had focused on automating operations at its main processing plant in Sydney.
"There's a lot of automation that we're starting to see the benefits of," Mr Ryan said.
"We've been able to take people out of that process of handling or touching a fish."
Mr Ryan said Tassal had gone "back to basics" when restructuring De Costi, cutting loss-making products and making supply chains more efficient.
"All that intellectual property we've built up on salmon is now being transitioned into seafood."
He said the restructure, completed in mid-December, has left De Costi well placed to improve earnings in the second half.
The $700,000 integration, along with growth in salmon sales, helped Tassal lift its revenue by 50 per cent to $226.8 million in the first half of its financial year.
But higher costs associated with salmon harvests and lower prices for its fresh salmon resulted in net profit falling to $25.3 million in the six months to December 31.
Tassal shares sunk after the release of the results, closing the day down 26 cents, or 6.13 per cent at $3.98.
"Pricing was down in both the retail and the wholesale market," Mr Ryan said.
"Overall it's a pleasing result given where the market had been on the previous half from a pricing perspective."
He said the second-half focus for the company's salmon arm would be increasing salmon consumption in the domestic market and utilising a selective breeding program to deliver bigger fish.
TASSAL FAILS TO NET PROFIT
* Net profit down 16.6 pct to $25.3m
* Revenue up 50.3 pct to $226.8m
* Partly franked interim dividend up 50 cents to $7.50
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