Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V., parent company of OK Foods, announced its audited results for the fourth quarter and full year results ending December 31, 2018. All figures have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standard, and are presented in nominal million Mexican Pesos.

Rodolfo Ramos Arvizu, Chief Executive Officer of Bachoco, stated "With 4Q18, we ended a challenging second half of the year in both geographies in which we participate. Even when improving, most of the conditions prevailing in 3Q18 continued into 4Q18.

“In Mexico, during the quarter we observed a poultry industry returning to normalized growth rates, improving the balance between supply and demand when compared to 3Q18. These conditions and seasonality effects lead us to better prices vs the previous quarter. Regarding cost of sales, volatility on the exchange rate during the quarter offset the benefits of lower raw material costs in dollar terms. Increases in fuel prices had a negative impact on our SG&A when compared to the same period of 2017.

“In the US, we kept observing oversupply conditions on proteins which put pressure on chicken prices. However, this negative impact was partially compensated by the integration of our Albertville operation which, as a meat buyer, captured the benefits of these low-price conditions.

“Overall, we reached an increase in total sales of 2.6% in 4Q18 when compared to 4Q17, with positive results in operating and net income.  Our EBITDA was $916.1 million which is lower than the EBITDA of the same quarter of 2017. For the fourth quarter, our EBITDA margin was 5.9% and our earnings per basic and diluted share was $1.32

“For the full year of 2018, we continued delivering positive results. We increased total sales by 5.2%, with an EBITDA margin of 8.3% and earnings per share of $5.72.  

“Our financial structure remained solid and allowed us to keep with our growth plans. We reported a net cash position of $13,414.3 and CAPEX of $1,996.3 million.

“We continue to be very focused on capturing efficiencies across all our processes and being close to better serve our customers as we know this is key for our growth."

In 2018, net sales totaled $61,052.1 million, $3,002.1 million or 5.2% more than the $58,050.0 million reported in 2017. The sales increase is mainly attributed to higher prices and higher volume sold in poultry, due in part to the integration of the Albertville, Ala. operation for the full year.  

In 2018, sales of the U.S. operations represented 28.8% of total sales, compared with 28.4% in 2017.

Source: Industrias Bachoco