Baldvin Thorsteinsson today assumed the role of CEO of Samherji hf., succeeding his father, Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, who has stepped down after 42 years as CEO, having led the company since its founding in 1983.

Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, the CEO of Samherji, wrote a letter to all employees this morning, informing them of his decision to step down as CEO next June. The letter is as follows:

Samherji Fish Farming, a subsidiary of Samherji hf., has completed financing of the first phase of the Salmon Garden, a new land-based fish farming facility on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. The funding, secured through an equity private placement and a syndicated loan, totals EUR 235 million. Once fully scaled, the facility will directly create 100 new jobs, with a similar number of indirect jobs expected through associated services and industries.

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, with thanks for a good cooperation.

Today, judgment was handed down in the UK in a case brought by Samherji hf. for infringement of its trademark rights. The court upheld all of Samherji's claims.

This week, a hearing took place in the UK in the case of Samherji against Oddur Eysteinn Friðriksson, because he had spoofed and used intellectual property rights owned by Samherji.

Samherji's operating profit amounted to EUR 54.5 million in 2023 and was nearly unchanged from the previous year. The profit from the operations of Samherji's group, after accounting for the performance of associates and financial items, amounted to EUR 58.7 million after taxes.

Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji, and Kristján Vilhelmsson, the managing director of ships operations at Samherji, have established Drift EA for the purposes of fostering entrepreneurship and innovation within the Eyjafjördur area. The company will offer facilities and support to entrepreneurs and businesses to develop their ideas locally and internationally.

Samherji's attention has been drawn to the fact that unknown dishonest parties have sent a fake press release in Samherji's name to foreign media outlets. The same parties also seem to have set up a fake website in the name of the company hosted in the UK and, at the same time, distributed fake advertising banners.
It should be noted that neither the website nor the press release has any connection with Samherji or the company's employees. This appears to be a planned attack that the company takes very seriously. Samherji will request that the fake website is taken down.

40 years have passed since the trawler Guðsteinn GK 140 sailed into Eyjafjörður. The cousins Kristján Vilhelmsson, Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson and Þorsteinn Vilhelmsson had bought almost all of the shares in Samherji hf. in Grindavík, that owned Guðsteinn and they moved the domicile to Akureyri. Thus began the history of the company, which has since that day prospered and grown into one of the largest seafood companies in Iceland, with operations in fishing, fish processing, fish farming and sale of seafood products.