São Paulo – In 2012, JBS turned around the losses it had incurred in 2011. Last Wednesday evening (13th), the company announced a net income of R$ 718.9 million (US$ 365.2 million) last year. A year earlier, the company had incurred a loss of R$ 75.7 million (US$ 38.4 million). The company’s balance sheets, which encompasses the results of JBS Mercosul, Bovinos JBS USA, Suínos JBS USA, and Frangos JBS USA, also shows that profits have increased. Income stood at R$ 75.6 billion (US$ 38.4 billion), up 22.5% from R$ 61.7 billion (US$ 31.3 billion) in 2011.
In a message to the market, JBS CEO Wesley Batista said 2012 was a year of “significant improvement” to the company, despite an unfavourable economic scenario in Europe, lower-than-expected economic growth in Brazil, the still-recovering United States market, and rising grain prices. He also stated that the company dedicated 2012 to fine-tuning its structure and meeting targets.
The company also posted positive results in quarter four, 2012. Income was R$ 21.8 billion (US$ 11 billion), up 29% from the same period of 2011. Net income stood at R$ 66.4 million (US$ 33.7 million), up 159.7% from R$ 25.6 million in quarter four, 2011.
In 2012, the company slaughtered 16.3 million heads of cattle, up 8.4% from 2011, and 13.6 million pigs, up 4.2% from 2011. Bovinos JBS USA (for beef) that also covers Canada and Australia accounted for 46% of the group’s income; Suínos JBS USA (for pork) accounted for 9%; Frango JBS USA (for poultry) accounted for 21%, and JBS Mercosul answered to 24% of total income.
Exports
According to JBS, in 2012 roughly 75% of sales took place domestically in the markets that the company operates in, and 25% of sales consisted of exports. In 2012, foreign sales revenues stood at US$ 9.85 billion, up 2.6% from US$ 9.5 billion in 2011. The main export target was Mexico, at 14.6% of the total, followed by China, Hong Kong and Vietnam (14.6%), Japan (11%), Africa and the Middle East (10.3%) and Russia (7.4%).
Sales to Africa and the Middle East were down. In 2011, the company exported US$ 1.24 billion. Last year it exported US$ 1.01 billion. Despite the decline, this Thursday (14th), during a teleconference to announce the results, the company stated that the African market has a particularly good growth potential, and that sales to the continent keep climbing.
As of 11:10 am this Wednesday (14th), common JBS stock (with voting rights) was up 1.7% on São Paulo’s BMFBovespa exchange, selling for R$ 7.19 (US$ 3.65 at current exchange rates).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
