JBS Friboi resumes profits and already talks about new acquisitions
O Estado de S. Paulo
The CEO of the JBS Friboi group, Joesley Batista, affirmed yesterday that the company, international leader in beef, is "turning the page of the crisis" and starts getting ready to resume its expansion process, which may include both organic growth and acquisitions. The unit of the company in the United States expects to raise US$ 2 billion with an initial public offer (IPO) that is already filed with the SEC, the regulating body of that country.
With those funds Friboi intends to increase its global platform of distribution, but the possibility of purchases to increase its productive capacity has not been ruled out. "We are returning to the normal course of the company. We started looking at growth opportunities again", said Batista. He emphasized that what is defined up to now is the effort of the company in strengthening its distribution capacity, as part of the strategy of getting increasingly to the final consumer.
Batista's optimism is also based on the figures of the balance sheet of the company. In the second quarter, Friboi had net profits of R$ 172.7 million (US$ 90.0 million), reverting a loss of R$ 364.6 million (US$ 199.2 million) registered in the same period of last year. The net income in the period amounted to R$ 9.255 billion (US$ 4.9 billion), with increase of 29.82%. The cash generation (Ebitda) increased 30.19%, reaching R$ 384 million (US$ 202.1 million). The group also increased the slaughtering of cows by 14.9% in the second quarter in relation to the first. In total, the group slaughtered 893.5 million heads in the second quarter. Compared to the second quarter of 2008, the number of slaughtered heads increased 3.7%. The company took advantage of the exit of important slaughterhouses from the market to increase its share in the total of cows slaughtered in Brazil.
The group also gets ready to increase its slaughtering capacity in the Country. According to Batista, the slaughtering in the five units of the Quatro Marcos Slaughterhouse recently leased by the company should start in the middle of September. "We should start the second quarter of 2010 with these units at full capacity", he said.