Irish beef factories have long argued there’s no money in processing. Yet, thumbing through the accounts of Brazilian beef giant JBS, it’s hard to see how that position can be believed.

Financial results announced this week by JBS show its beef division in the US made bumper profits during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in April, May and June.

JBS’s accounts show its US beef division made profits of more than €950m for the three months on the back of bumper profit margins of 21%.

That’s the kind of profit margin you’d expect selling infant formula into China, never mind selling cuts of steak and ground mince in the ultra-competitive US market. And they say there’s no money in beef.