Pilgrim's Pride second quarter sales rise
For the 13 weeks to 1 July 2018, it recorded net sales of $2.84bn, up 3.1% on the same period of 2017. Net income was $106.5m.
“During Q2 market conditions within our US operations were mixed, with the commodity segment counter seasonal and weak whereas the less commodity businesses continued to be strong and well balanced," said Bill Lovette, chief executive officer of Pilgrim's. "Despite some volatility in feed and less than ideal market conditions in the commodity chicken sector, the investments we made over the past few years, the recent acquisitions and our capture of operational improvements, and the strength of our small bird and case-ready businesses helped us to offset some of the impact from the commodity markets and contribute to the evolution of our portfolio in supporting our vision to become the best and most respected company in our industry.”
Lovette praised the Mexican market which saw solid growth over the quarter.
“Mexico once again delivered strong results during the quarter as we had strong operating performance as well as very good demand for chicken. Our volumes increased during the quarter, driving a robust EBITDA performance of 19.6% which together with our differentiated strategy and dedication of our team members, extended the outperformance over the main competition over the past few years. Our Prepared Foods are growing at a double digit rate and are generating strong results under both premium Pilgrim’s and Del Dia to drive the evolution of our Mexican portfolio towards more differentiated, higher-value products, and ultimately margin expansion.”
Lovette said the acquisition of Moy Park last year boosted performance in Europe. “In Europe, we are already recording an improvement in performance and are seeing expected results from the integration, with significant share gained at a key customer and several other projects to further optimize our relationships, highlighting how our newly acquired operations are already benefiting from our team’s enhanced focus on Key Customer strategy. The operational improvements initiatives are also going well and we are slightly ahead of our $50 million synergy target for the next two years, supporting a margin increase of 70bps. We are innovating in the market in Europe by continuing to develop exciting products to satisfy a growing consumer demand for chicken and alternative forms of protein, which can be easily adapted to other markets we participate in.”
