Net sales for Mexico-based agri-food group Bachoco increased 6.9 percent in the 4th quarter of 2015, bringing to 10.7 percent the growth for the full year. EBITDA margin was 6.4 percent for the quarter and 12.8 percent for FY2015.
Commenting on the results, the company’s CEO, Rodolfo Ramos Arvizu described these results as “satisfactory,” and contrasted the trading conditions in the two countries where Bachoco is active, Mexico and the U.S.
“Conditions prevailing in the poultry industry in the third quarter continued throughout the fourth quarter of 2015,” he said. “We observed an important increase in supply in Mexico, creating an over-supply condition, which put pressure on prices. In the U.S. markets, we also observed lower prices, mainly in leg quarters, as compared with the equivalent quarter of 2014. Even though we observed a stronger supply in our main product lines, we also saw a good level of demand in the Mexican markets during the fourth quarter enabling us to sell the largest volume for a quarter.
“Volatility in the Mexican peso had an effect in our cost of sales in Mexico during the quarter, as a result, our operating margins were lower when compared with the fourth quarter of the previous year.
“Our U.S. operation continues delivering positive results while recording historical volume sold of chicken for 2015,” said Arvizu.
In December 2015, Bachoco acquired a fully-cooked poultry facility in Oklahoma City, U.S., from American Foods Group.
Bachoco is the leader in the Mexican poultry industry, and one of the largest poultry producers globally. It is a vertically integrated company headquartered in Celaya, Guanajuato located in Central Mexico. Its main business lines are chicken, eggs, balanced feed, swine, and turkey and beef value-added products. The company owns and manages more than 1,000 facilities, organized in nine production complexes and 64 distribution centers in Mexico, and a production complex in the U.S. Currently, it employs more than 25,000 people.
Bachoco is ranked sixth in a recent listing of the most searched-for global agribusiness companies on WATTAgNet.com in 2015.
