GREELEY, Colo., Oct. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ: PPC), one of the world's largest poultry producers, reports its third quarter 2024 financial results.

Third Quarter Highlights

• Net Sales of $4.6 billion.
• Consolidated GAAP operating income margin of 11.1%.
• GAAP Net Income of $350.0 million and GAAP EPS of $1.47. Adjusted Net Income of $387.0 million or Adjusted EPS of $1.63.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $660.4 million, or a 14.4% margin.
• Our U.S. Fresh portfolio continued to improve through progress in operational excellence, strong demand, and enhanced mix. Overall chicken demand was strong given competitive pricing and value delivered to the consumer, with our Key Customers expanding faster than category averages in the Case Ready and Small Bird segments. The Commodity segment improved given continued progress in production efficiencies and positive market fundamentals.
• Diversification through value-added offerings continues to accelerate. Our branded prepared foods portfolio expanded across retail and foodservice through increased distribution and promotional activity.  
• Europe improved Adjusted EBITDA nearly 40% versus prior year given recent network and back office optimization efforts, enhanced mix with Key Customers, and further diversification through branded offerings and innovation. Richmond^® and Fridge Raiders^® continued to grow faster than category averages and our innovation efforts continue to be recognized by the market with multiple industry awards.
• Mexico results followed normal seasonality, while continuing to cultivate partnerships with Key Customers as sales grew ahead of the market. Diversification efforts continued to progress as branded sales rose over 20%. Operational excellence efforts to expand production and mitigate risk remained on track.  
• Stronger liquidity position given healthy cash generation throughout the quarter. Net leverage ratio of 0.65x Adjusted EBITDA, providing the foundation to execute the company’s growth strategy and create value for our shareholders.
• Pilgrim’s continued to demonstrate progress against its ESG aspirations as detailed in the publication of the 2023 Sustainability Report. Since 2019, performance against the Global Safety Index has improved by 69%, and Scope 1 and 2 absolute GHG emissions have been reduced by 17%. Also, since 2021, over 1,500 team members have signed up for tuition-free, higher education programs through our Better Futures initiative.
  

“Throughout the quarter, we continued to emphasize operational excellence, diversify our portfolio and cultivate partnerships with Key Customers to drive value for the consumer. Our unrelenting focus on quality, service and innovation is reflected in our performance,” said Fabio Sandri, Pilgrim’s President and Chief Executive Officer.   

In the U.S., the relative affordability and availability of chicken drove increased demand across retail and food service. Case Ready and Small Bird drove profitable growth as demand improved from Key Customers and there was continued progress in operational excellence. In Big Bird, profitability grew from sustained improvements in production efficiencies, lower input costs, and enhanced commodity cutout values. Similarly, Prepared continued to diversify the portfolio through incremental distribution across retail and foodservice.  

“We partnered closely with our Key Customers to further cultivate consumer demand. As such, our approach accommodated changing input costs, enabling further investment in promotional activity, generating store traffic and driving growth well above the category. These efforts were amplified by attractive market fundamentals, especially in the Big Bird segment,” Sandri said.   

Europe realized its highest quarterly adjusted EBITDA to date given continued progress in operational excellence, further diversification through branded offerings and strengthening Key Customer partnerships. New product introductions continue to gain momentum as the business launched over 280 new products during the quarter.  

“Our new product pipeline has generated significant marketplace interest. We received multiple industry awards during the quarter for innovation, quality and functionality for our recently launched items. Given these efforts, we can further scale partnerships with Key Customers, enhance mix through branded offerings, and grow our prepared portfolio,” said Sandri.  

Mexico continued to build its presence with Key Customers across retail and foodservice and further diversify its portfolio through brands. Investments in operational excellence to build capacity and drive operational efficiencies remained on track.

“Mexico continued to successfully drive all pillars of our strategies during typical seasonality for the business. As a result, we are increasingly well positioned to capture both short- and long-term growth opportunities,” remarked Sandri.  

Pilgrim’s provided an update on its progress to become an industry leader in sustainability through the publication of its 2023 Sustainability Report. The report included an update on a variety of topics, including the company’s exceptional safety performance, product integrity standards, and GHG emissions reductions.  

“Sustainability is critical to achieve our vision of becoming the best and most respected company in our industry and creating a better future for our team members and their families,” said Sandri.

Conference Call Information

A conference call to discuss Pilgrim’s quarterly results will be held tomorrow, Oct. 31, at 7 a.m. MT (9 a.m. ET). Participants are encouraged to pre-register for the conference call using the link below. Callers who pre-register will be given a unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator. Participants may pre-register at any time, including up to and after the call start time.

To pre-register, go to: https://dpregister.com/sreg/10193583/fdb3c986c1 

You may also reach the pre-registration link by logging in through the investor section of our website at https://ir.pilgrims.com in the “Events & Presentations” section.

For those who would like to join the call but have not pre-registered, access is available by dialing +1 (844) 883-3889 within the US, or +1 (412) 317-9245 internationally, and requesting the “Pilgrim’s Pride Conference.”

Replays of the conference call will be available on Pilgrim’s website approximately two hours after the call concludes and can be accessed through the “Investor” section of www.pilgrims.com.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s employs approximately 62,000 people and operates protein processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.K, the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe. The Company’s primary distribution is through retailers and foodservice distributors. For more information, please visit www.pilgrims.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that state the intentions, plans, hopes, beliefs, anticipations, expectations or predictions of the future of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and its management are considered forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” “targets,” “will” and the negative thereof and similar words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements include: matters affecting the poultry industry generally; the ability to execute the Company’s business plan to achieve desired cost savings and profitability; future pricing for feed ingredients and the Company’s products; outbreaks of avian influenza or other diseases, either in Pilgrim’s Pride’s flocks or elsewhere, affecting its ability to conduct its operations and/or demand for its poultry products; contamination of Pilgrim’s Pride’s products, which has previously and can in the future lead to product liability claims and product recalls; exposure to risks related to product liability, product recalls, property damage and injuries to persons, for which insurance coverage is expensive, limited and potentially inadequate; management of cash resources; restrictions imposed by, and as a result of, Pilgrim’s Pride’s leverage; changes in laws or regulations affecting Pilgrim’s Pride’s operations or the application thereof; new immigration legislation or increased enforcement efforts in connection with existing immigration legislation that cause the costs of doing business to increase, cause Pilgrim’s Pride to change the way in which it does business, or otherwise disrupt its operations; competitive factors and pricing pressures or the loss of one or more of Pilgrim’s Pride’s largest customers; currency exchange rate fluctuations, trade barriers, exchange controls, expropriation and other risks associated with foreign operations; disruptions in international markets and distribution channels, including, but not limited to, the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict; the risk of cyber-attacks, natural disasters, power losses, unauthorized access, telecommunication failures, and other problems on our information systems; and the impact of uncertainties of litigation and other legal matters described in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, including the In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, as well as other risks described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any such statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

“EBITDA” is defined as the sum of net income plus interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. “Adjusted EBITDA” is calculated by adding to EBITDA certain items of expense and deducting from EBITDA certain items of income that we believe are not indicative of our ongoing operating performance consisting of: (1) foreign currency transaction losses (gains), (2) costs related to litigation settlements, (3) restructuring activities losses, (4) loss on settlement of pension obligations due to plan termination, (5) write-downs of inventory as a result of hurricane, (6) property insurance recoveries for property damage losses, and (7) net income attributable to noncontrolling interests. EBITDA is presented because it is used by management and we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, in addition to and not in lieu of results prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”), to compare the performance of companies. We believe investors would be interested in our Adjusted EBITDA because this is how our management analyzes EBITDA applicable to continuing operations. The Company also believes that Adjusted EBITDA, in combination with the Company’s financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, provides investors with additional perspective regarding the impact of certain significant items on EBITDA and facilitates a more direct comparison of its performance with its competitors. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measurements of financial performance under U.S. GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for an analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. In addition, other companies in our industry may calculate these measures differently limiting their usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income as indicators of our operating performance or any other measures of performance derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These limitations should be compensated for by relying primarily on our U.S. GAAP results and using EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA only on a supplemental basis.

The summary unaudited consolidated income statement data for the twelve months ended September 29, 2024 (the LTM Period) have been calculated by subtracting the applicable unaudited consolidated income statement data for the nine months ended September 24, 2023 from the sum of (1) the applicable audited consolidated income statement data for the year ended December 31, 2023 and (2) the applicable unaudited consolidated income statement data for the nine months ended September 29, 2024.

EBITDA margins have been calculated by taking the relevant unaudited EBITDA figures, then dividing by net sales for the applicable period. EBITDA margins are presented because they are used by management and we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, as a supplement to our results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies.

Adjusted EBITDA by segment figures are presented because they are used by management and we believe they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, as a supplement to our results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies.

Adjusted Operating Income is calculated by adding to Operating Income certain items of expense and deducting from Operating Income certain items of income. Management believes that presentation of Adjusted Operating Income provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of GAAP operating income to adjusted operating income as follows:

Adjusted Operating Income Margin for each of our reportable segments is calculated by dividing Adjusted operating income by Net Sales. Management believes that presentation of Adjusted Operating Income Margin provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of GAAP operating income margin for each of our reportable segments to adjusted operating income margin for each of our reportable segments is as follows:

Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (“Pilgrim's”) is calculated by adding to Net income attributable to Pilgrim's certain items of expense and deducting from Net income attributable to Pilgrim's certain items of income, as shown below in the table. Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is presented because it is used by management, and we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, in addition to and not in lieu of results prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies. Management also believe that this non-U.S. GAAP financial measure, in combination with our financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, provides investors with additional perspective regarding the impact of such charges on net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share. Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is not a measurement of financial performance under U.S. GAAP, has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for an analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Management believes that presentation of adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share to adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is as follows:

Adjusted EPS is calculated by dividing the adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim's stockholders by the weighted average number of diluted shares. Management believes that Adjusted EPS provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of U.S. GAAP to non-U.S. GAAP financial measures is as follows: