Industrias Bachoco, Mexico’s largest poultry producer, reported a 21.1% increase in sales during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020. For the full year, net sales were up 11.6%.
Broken down geographically, the company’s net sales were MXN13.78 billion ($680 million) for the quarter, an increase of 26.3%. In the United States, net sales increased 7.6% to MXN4.55 billion. OK Foods, the 16th largest poultry producer in the United States, is Bachoco’s U.S. subsidiary.
Bachoco’s net income for the quarter increased nearly 381% to MXN720.3 million.
Rodolfo Ramos Arvizu, chief executive officer of Bachoco, issued the following comments regarding the quarterly and full-year results: “2020 was a historically challenging year. We faced unprecedented conditions that tested our capabilities for adapting fast to new market conditions while being efficient. Despite the uncertainty that this year brought, our solid financial structure and our operating discipline allowed us to end 2020 with positive results in terms of profitability while attending all markets.
“During the last quarter of 2020, we observed some adjustments in demand as a result of remaining lockdown conditions in some sectors. However, we consider that the industry was well in line with that reading, allowing a good balance between supply and demand, which resulted in competitive prices for this time frame.
“On the other hand, in the U.S., we kept observing challenging conditions that continued to negatively affect commodity prices, particularly on white meat and leg quarters.”
In addition to being the largest broiler producer in Mexico and the tenth largest broiler company in the world, Bachoco ranks second among egg producers in Mexico and thirteenth in the world.
Bachoco is also involved in pork production. In early 2020, the company acquired a 54.8% stake in Sonora Agropecuaria S.A. (SASA), a swine processing and distribution company with operations in the Mexican states of Sonora and Jalisco. Near the conclusion of the year, Bachoco reached an agreement to invest in RYC Alimentos, a multi-protein processor and distributor with operations in Puebla, Mexico.
