A booming US economy helped lift first-quarter profits for JBS, the world’s largest meat processor. Announcing results this week, JBS said net profits for the first quarter of 2018 (Jan to Mar) soared 43% to R$507m (€117m).

Sales for the period increased 6% to just under R$40bn (€9.2bn) thanks to increased sales volumes and pricing. Earnings (EBITDA) for the period increased by almost one-third (+30%) to close to BR$2.8bn (€646m), as margins widened from 5.7% last year to 7% in the early months of 2018.

The strong growth in first-quarter profits was driven by JBS’s businesses in North America. The group’s beef business in the US saw profits increase more than two-thirds (+68%) close to €260m as a result of higher beef prices and sales volumes.

JBS’s poultry business in the US, Pilgrim’s Pride, saw profits rise by almost one-fifth (+19%) to €230m, again due to higher sales prices. JBS’s pork business in the US also recorded double-digit earnings growth (+12%) to €150m.

However, JBS’s beef business in Brazil remains challenged, recording first-quarter losses of €22m. The Brazilian company remains highly leveraged, with net debts in excess of €10.5bn, or 3.2 times earnings.

JBS said it had reached an agreement with banks to refinance more than €2.8bn of short-term debt for an extra three years out to 2021.

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