In a press release dated February 26th Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (PPC) announced results for the 4th Quarter and FY 2023 ending December 31st 2023. The quarterly figures showed positive earnings for all three segments with higher revenue and operating profit across all three geographic areas. Earnings were appreciably above Q4 2022 and exceeded consensus estimates on the top and bottom lines.
The following table summarizes the results for Q4 2023 derived from the SEC 10-Q form and the Company release. Values are compared with the corresponding Q3 FY 2022 (Values expressed as US$ x 103 except EPS)
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4th Quarters 2023 and 2022, Ending
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December 31st 2023
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December 25th
2022
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Difference (%)
|
|
Sales:
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$4,528,302
|
$4,127,365
|
+9.7
|
|
Gross profit:
|
$321,047
|
$95,782
|
+342.4
|
|
Operating income:
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$184,299
|
$(77,524)
|
+337.7
|
|
Pre-tax Income
Net Income*
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$156,628
$134,211
|
$(129,786)
$(154,976)
|
+220.7
+186.6
|
|
Diluted earnings per share:
|
$0.57
|
$(0.66)
|
+186.4
|
|
Gross Margin (%)
|
7.1
|
2.3
|
+208.7
|
|
Operating Margin (%)
|
4.1
|
-3.8
|
+315.8
|
|
Profit Margin (%)
|
3.0
|
-1.9
|
+257.9
|
|
Long-term Debt and other liabilities:
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$3,584,369
|
$3,468,140
|
+3.4
|
|
12 Months Trailing:
|
|
|
|
|
Return on Assets (%)
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2.3
|
|
|
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Return on Equity (%)
|
1.1
|
|
|
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Operating Margin (%)
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4.7
|
|
|
|
Profit Margin (%)
|
0.2
|
|
|
|
Total Assets (approximately 21% intangibles)
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$9,810,361
|
$9,255,769
|
+6.0
|
|
Intraday Market Capitalization July 28th
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$6,840,000
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|
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- Q4 2023, $12.3 million interest income (Q4 2022, $1.5 million)
- Q4 2023 $3.9 million miscellaneous income (Q4 2022, $1.5 million)
- Q4 2023 $22.9 million gain in foreign currency transactions (Q4 2022 $16.5 million loss)
For FY 2023 Pilgrim’s Pride earned $351.57 million on net revenue of $17.36 million with a diluted EPS of $1.36. For FY 2022 the Company earned $745.54 million on net revenue of $17.47 million with a diluted EPS of $3.11.
Operating income and sales posted by the three business segments during Q4 2023 were:-
U.S. 69.6 percent of company operating income on 58.8 percent of sales
E.U and U.K. 31.2 percent of company operating income on 27.2 percent of sales
Mexico (0.8) percent of company operating income on 11.6 percent of sales
52-Week Range in Share Price of PPC: $19.96 to $31.15. 50-day Moving average, $27.67
Market Close: Friday 23rd February, pre-release $28.67.
Open Monday 26th February, post-release $30.60 up 6.7 percent.
Current Forward P/E 13
Equity held by insiders and holding Company: 82.7 percent, Institutions, 17.1 percent
In commenting on Q4 results Fabio Sandri, CEO stated “While our business faced a unique set of challenging conditions in 2023, we persevered as our team members maintained a leadership mindset and elevated their focus and execution of our strategy.
In the 4th quarter, the U.S. portfolio continued to profitably grow as Case Ready and Small Bird realized benefits from additional promotional activity with Key Customers, more distribution, and increased retail pricing spreads from competing proteins. Prepared Foods also gained further momentum as branded offerings expanded throughout retail and distribution improved in foodservice. As for Big Bird, operating costs continued to improve from increased production efficiencies and better market conditions”.
“Given the actual market conditions, the affordability and availability of chicken resonated with consumers. As such, we worked closely with our Key Customers in both retail and food service to drive increased traffic through promotions and broaden their lineup of chicken offerings across fresh and prepared items,”
In relation to Mexico Sandri stated, “Supply and demand fundamentals were challenging in October but gained strength in the 4thquarte. We further diversified our portfolio as our brands continue to gain strong traction with consumers and retailers alike. Our investments to increase capacity and reduce production risk through operational excellence are proceeding as planned. Key Customer relationships continue to strengthen as volumes ended up nearly double digits compared to full year 2022,”
For the operations in the U.K. and the E.U. Sandri stated,“ We demonstrated progress again in profitability improvement in the 4th quarter through Key Customer partnerships, branded innovation, and operational excellence. The efforts were accelerated by recent actions to further streamline our production networks and support activities.
Sandri concluded, “While we had challenging market conditions during the year, our commitment to sustainability remained firm. Our team identified ways to embed innovative practices in our business to simultaneously drive sustainability and enhance profitable growth”.