JBS posts flat quarterly profit as US cattle costs pressure margins

SAO PAULO, March 25 (Reuters) – Brazil’s JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, reported a near-flat fourth-quarter net profit on Wednesday, as record revenue was offset by tighter margins, particularly in its U.S. beef business.

The company posted net profit of $415 million for the October-December period, up 0.5% from a year earlier but slightly below the $428 million forecast by analysts polled by LSEG.

Net revenue rose 15% to a record $23.06 billion, topping analysts’ estimate of $22.38 billion, helped by record sales in its North American and Brazilian beef operations.

JBS said tighter cattle supplies in the United States have driven up livestock costs and squeezed margins in its North American beef division, its largest business by revenue.

Chief Executive Gilberto Tomazoni told Reuters the U.S. cattle supply outlook would remain challenging this year because of the current downturn in the livestock cycle.

“We don’t think there will be any significant change this year in U.S. cattle supply. It will continue to be a difficult year for us,” he said, adding that strong customer demand could help offset some of the pressure.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 7% to $1.72 billion, but came in above analysts’ forecast of $1.56 billion. The adjusted EBITDA margin fell 1.8 percentage points to 7.4%.

In a separate statement, JBS announced dividends of $1 per share. JBS shares were little changed in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Roberto Samora and Andre Romani in Sao Paulo; additional reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Kylie Madry)