The company's gross revenues fell 14% in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 6.3 billion real (US$3.5 billion) from a year ago, due to the lingering effects of the global financial crisis, said the company's financial director Leopoldo Saboya, reports Reuters.


Sales revenues from exports fell 31% in the quarter to just over 2 billion real (US$1.1 billion) and were down 14% for the year to 9.1 billion real (US$5.0 billion). The external market accounted for about 42% of company sales in the fourth quarter.


Income
Brasil Foods posted fourth-quarter net income of 6 million real (US$3.3 million), compared with a proforma net loss of 1.33 billion real (US$733 million) one year earlier, which reflected financial losses due to the company's speculative bets in the currency markets, reports continue.


"We don't expect changes in the external markets to repeat, both in terms of volumes and prices," both of which fell sharply, Saboya said.


Saboya said sales volumes abroad are expected to recover slowly in 2010, by about 3.5% to 5%.


Domestic sales growth
Domestic sales growth of 4% in 2009 to 15.2 billion real (US$8.4 billion) helped partially off-set the weaker export markets. Total annual sales were down 4% at 24.4 billion real (US$13.5 billion) for 2009. Saboya added that demand at home is expected to grow by 8% in 2010.


For all of 2009, the company reported a net profit of 228 million real (US$126 million), against a net proforma loss of 2.4 billion real (US$1.3 billion) in 2008.


During last year, Brasil Foods was created as the consequence of a takeover of meat integration Sadia by Perdigão. An interview with Antonio do Prado Fay, the new CEO of Brasil Foods could be read in Pig Progress 25.09 and World Poultry 25.12 – or see the interview online.


Related website:
• Reuters
• Brasil Foods (in Portuguese)