SÃO PAULO – JBS SA reported net income for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, totaled 4.02 billion reals ($743.7 million), an increase of 65% from the same period the previous year.  

For the fiscal year 2020, JBS SA showed a net income of 4.6 billion reals ($814.5 million) which was down 24.2%. 

Consolidated net revenue for the fourth quarter advanced 33.1% to 76.1 billion reals ($13.5 billion) from 57.1 billion reals in the fourth quarter of 2019. For the 2020 fiscal year of net revenue, JBS reported 270.2 billion reals, a 32.1% increase from the previous year. 

“Our business model of diversification in both our portfolio and geographic presence in 13 countries, turned out to be the right strategic choice,” said Gilberto Tomazoni, chief executive officer for JBS global. “We showed agility and flexibility in adapting to new consumer habits. A decisive factor was our ability to innovate, the fruit of our consistent investments in research and development, where value-added options always are a priority.”

On a segment basis, JBS USA Beef, reported net revenue of $21.7 billion, which was 1.7% lower than 2019. For the fourth quarter, JBS USA Beef showed $5.6 billion in revenue, which was down 3.2% from the same quarter in 2019. 

“In North America, the industry’s fundamentals remained solid during the quarter and throughout 2020, supported by the good cattle availability and beef demand,” JBS said. “Despite the reduction in volume produced — a consequence of the pandemic impact in the first half of the year — sales revenue surpassed the previous year due to increased demand, both in the domestic and international markets, which boosted the price of products sold.”

JBS USA Pork reported 2020 net revenue of $6.2 billion up 4.8% from 2019. In the fourth quarter, JBS USA Pork reported $1.7 billion in revenue, up 12.5% from the same quarter last year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. reported 2020 net revenue of $12.1 billion, which is up 6% from 2019. In the fourth quarter, the subsidiary reported $3.1 billion of revenue, which increased by 1.8%.

Some moves JBS made for its value-added US products included acquiring Empire Packing in February 2020 and reacquiring lamb processor Mountain States Rosen in Greeley, Colo. The company also said it acquired a Canada case-ready plant to serve a large retailer and launched its OZO line of plant-based burger patties, ground and Mexican-seasoned ground meat alternatives that are sold in 3,000 locations in the United States. 

More information on the JBS earnings can be found here.