SÃO PAULO — JBS SA reported net income loss for fiscal year 2023 ended Dec. 31, 2023, totaling $132 million. For the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023, JBS had net income of $7 million, which was 96.3% below the year-over-year mark.

Consolidated net revenue for the fourth quarter went up 10% to $19.4 billion from $17.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. For the 2023 fiscal year of net revenue, JBS reported $72.9 billion, slightly up from $72.6 billion in 2022.

“Despite the persistent negative effects of the cattle cycle in the United States, the operational management measures adopted last year and the improvement in the medium-term outlook enable us to enter 2024 on the path of margin recovery,” said Gilberto Tomazoni, chief executive officer of JBS SA, in the earnings report. “Our focus on operational excellence was key to correcting the course of two of our businesses that underperformed in 2023: USA Beef and Seara. We identified issues and took action to adopt management measures based on our culture, with a focus on people and discipline in execution.”

Tomazoni stated that the results of the measures taken by JBS are already being felt, and the outlook for Seara in 2024 is positive, with significant improvement already seen in the first quarter of the year.

When looking at segments in the business, JBS USA Beef in 2023 reported net revenue of $23.3 billion, which was up 5.6% from 2022. For the fourth quarter, JBS USA Beef showed $6.3 billion in revenue, which was up 15% from the same quarter in 2022.

JBS USA Pork reported 2023 net revenue of $7.7 billion, down 5.4% from 2022. JBS USA Pork reported $2.1 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, up by 4.3% from the same quarter last year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. reported a 2022 net revenue of $17.3 billion, down 0.6% from 2022. The subsidiary reported $4.5 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, which increased by 9.7%.

“The chicken and pork businesses faced persistent pressure on production costs throughout 2023 but are already benefiting from the normalization of grain prices, as evidenced by the results of Pilgrim’s and USA Pork,” Tomazoni said of the report. “The recovery of margins in these businesses also reflects a better balance of supply and demand.”

JBS Brasil reported net revenue in 2023 of $11.1 billion, down 2.4% from 2022. The subsidiary also reported $3 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, up by 10.8% from the same quarter last year.

Seara recorded a net revenue of $8.3 billion, down 0.6% from last year. Seara reported $2.1 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, up 0.5% from 2023.

JBS also highlighted some of the investments the company made over the last year including a new Italian meats plant, Principe Foods, in Columbia, Mo. The company added that it opened a new industrial complex under its Seara subsidiary, which JBS said was the largest and most automated breaded chicken and hot dog facility in Latin America.

“We remain confident in our long-term strategy: we will continue to reinforce our diversified platform, both geographically and by protein type, investing in strong brands, value-added products, and strategic partnerships with our customers,” Tomazani said. “This set of actions is crucial for increasing margins and reducing volatility. The investments we made in 2023 are significant milestones that support this direction.”

JBS also noted the start of construction on its first cultured meat plant in Spain under its subsidiary BioTech Foods. It also plans to build its research and development center for cultivated protein in Florianópolis, Brazil.

More information on the JBS Earnings for 2023 can be found here.