Pilgrim’s net income down sharply in Q4 2015

Pilgrim's Pride saw its net income drop by about 62 percent during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 and its net income for the fiscal year as a whole decline by about 9 percent.

Officials in Fremont, Nebraska, are declining to hold a public forum where people can address concerns with a proposed poultry plant, citing disrespectful behavior at previous meetings.
Officials in Fremont, Nebraska, are declining to hold a public forum where people can address concerns with a proposed poultry plant, citing disrespectful behavior at previous meetings.

Pilgrim's Pride saw its net income drop by about 62 percent during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 and its net income for the fiscal year as a whole decline by about 9 percent.

Fourth quarter net income was reported at $63.1 million, down from the $167.2 million for the same period of fiscal year 2014. Its net income for the full year was $645.9 million, down from the $711.6 million for fiscal year 2014.

The company’s net sales for the fourth quarter were at $1.96 billion, a drop from the $2.11 billion during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014. Net sales for the most recent fiscal year were $8.18 billion, a drop from the $8.58 billion recorded in fiscal year 2014.

"During 2015, we paid out $1.5 billion in special dividend, acquired additional Mexican operations to improve our geographic diversification and competitiveness in one of the strongest emerging markets, and repurchased $99.2 million in shares, signifying our commitment to maximizing shareholder value creation while remaining financially disciplined," stated Bill Lovette, CEO of Pilgrim's.

"Our case ready and small bird operations continued to deliver strong results in spite of challenges in the export markets, while the weakest chicken cutout in the past five years continued to impact the commodity segments of our business, as well as our Mexico operations. Despite the headwinds, our team managed to deliver margins that are above periods when prices were at similar levels. Our performance is commendable and strongly validates the benefits of our strategy."

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