GREELEY, Colo., July 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ: PPC), one of the world's largest poultry producers, reports its second quarter 2022 financial results.

Second Quarter Highlights

• Net Sales of $4.63 billion, up 27.3% from prior year.
• Consolidated GAAP operating income margin of 11.1% with GAAP operating income margins of 15.6% in U.S., 10.7% in Mexico and 0.6% in Europe.
• GAAP Net Income of $362.0 million and GAAP EPS of $1.50. Adjusted Net Income of $370.7 million or adjusted EPS of $1.54.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $623.3 million, or an 13.5% margin, 67.7% higher than a year ago.
• We are extremely proud of the dedication and outstanding efforts of our global team members, which supported all of our business units’ top line growth through excellent service levels to our Key Customers that drove significant sequential profit improvement for the overall business.
• Our US retail and foodservice business remained resilient despite additional cost recovery from inflationary challenges. Margins improved given enhanced market fundamentals in Big Bird Debone and continued operational improvements.
• Our brand momentum continues throughout US retail as Just Bare^® and Pilgrim’s^® Prepared products grew over 96% year over year. E-commerce across our US branded portfolio more than doubled.
• Our combined European business drove bottom line improvement from accelerated implementation of operational efficiencies, focus on Key Customer partnerships to recover inflationary costs, and further diversification of product offerings.
• Demand in Mexico was solid and our team’s focus and continued operational improvements overcame seasonal challenges in live operations at our locations.
• Continuing our commitment to corporate responsibility, our Board of Directors has approved the formation of an ESG Committee to further enrich our efforts on environmental, social and governance matters, including our Hometown Strong program and our Net Zero commitment.
• Our liquidity position remains strong with an adjusted EBITDA net leverage ratio at 1.5x.
• In driving for profitable growth, we are committing to an expansion in our fresh operations, a new protein conversion plant, and a new state-of-the-art prepared foods plant.
  

(1) Reconciliations for non-U.S. GAAP measures are provided in subsequent sections within this release.
(2) These Y/Y changes are designated not meaningful (or “NM”) due to significant one-time items recognized in prior year.

“Throughout the second quarter, we emphasized discipline and ownership throughout all aspects of our strategy and organization,” said Fabio Sandri, Chief Executive Officer of Pilgrim’s. “As a result, second quarter sales grew over 27% and Adjusted EBITDA was up almost 68% from last year. I am continually impressed with our team’s determination to drive operational excellence to mitigate inflationary headwinds and work with Key Customers to profitably grow our business.

“Our results continue to reflect the benefits of our diversified US portfolio. Investments in automation and in our hourly team members and their communities led to significant progress in net staffing levels, enabling our operations to realize the benefits of strong market fundamentals. Moreover, our overall demand in retail and foodservice remained robust given our emphasis on Key Customers and our diversified product portfolio. In addition, our retail branded business maintained its momentum, as Just Bare^® and Pilgrim’s^® continued their strong growth trajectory.

“Our UK and European business continued to recover through enhanced partnerships with Key Customers, improved cost recovery, and accelerated implementation of supply chain solutions. The team will continue to identify ways to leverage our diverse portfolio of offerings and further optimize our production capabilities to alleviate continual cost escalation and consistently innovate to drive profitable growth in a difficult economic environment.

“Our Mexican operations were impacted by seasonal diseases that reduced our efficiency on the live production at our locations. Nonetheless, the team leveraged our diverse geographic footprint to ensure sufficient supply, driving superior service for Key Customers. Moving forward, the team will continue to monitor conditions and adjust accordingly to grow the business.

“Given our market momentum and focus on profitable growth, we are announcing a number of new investments in the US. These investments include an expansion of our Athens, Georgia facility, which will enhance our service levels and support growth for a Key Customer. It also includes funding for operational excellence improvements via automation throughout our US footprint and construction of a protein conversion plant for pet food ingredients in Georgia. Also, we are committing to the development of a Prepared Foods facility in the Southeast USA to cultivate our branded growth, further diversifying our portfolio. Taken together, these investments will simultaneously enable sufficient capacity for top line growth with our Key Customers, enhance operating margins, create value for our shareholders, and provide opportunities for a better future for our team members.

“We remain focused on being the best and most respected company in our industry and I am confident our team will continue to drive disciplined execution of our strategy and cultivate robust growth throughout this volatile environment.”

Conference Call Information

A conference call to discuss Pilgrim’s quarterly results will be held tomorrow, July 28, at 7 a.m. MT (9 a.m. ET). Participants are encouraged to pre-register for the conference call using the link below. Callers who pre-register will be given a unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator. Participants may pre-register at any time, including up to and after the call start time. To pre-register, go to: https://services.choruscall.com/links/ppc220728.html

You may also reach the pre-registration link by logging in through the investor section of our website at https://ir.pilgrims.com in the “Events & Presentations” section.

For those who would like to join the call but have not pre-registered, access is available by dialing +1 (844) 883-3889 within the US, or +1 (412) 317-9245 internationally, and requesting the “Pilgrim’s Pride Conference.”

Replays of the conference call will be available on Pilgrim’s website approximately two hours after the call concludes and can be accessed through the “Investor” section of www.pilgrims.com.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s employs over 60,000 people and operates protein processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.K, the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe. The Company’s primary distribution is through retailers and foodservice distributors. For more information, please visit www.pilgrims.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that state the intentions, plans, hopes, beliefs, anticipations, expectations or predictions of the future of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and its management are considered forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” “targets,” “will” and the negative thereof and similar words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements include: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to contain the pandemic and resulting economic downturn on our operations and financial condition, including the risk that our health and safety measures at Pilgrim’s Pride production facilities will not be effective, the risk that we may be unable to prevent the infection of our employees at these facilities, and the risk that we may need to temporarily close one or more of our production facilities; the risk that we may experience decreased production and sales due to the changing demand for food products; the risk that we may face a significant increase in delayed payments from our customers; and additional risks related to COVID-19 set forth in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the SEC; matters affecting the poultry industry generally; the ability to execute the Company’s business plan to achieve desired cost savings and profitability; future pricing for feed ingredients and the Company’s products; outbreaks of avian influenza or other diseases, either in Pilgrim’s Pride’s flocks or elsewhere, affecting its ability to conduct its operations and/or demand for its poultry products; contamination of Pilgrim’s Pride’s products, which has previously and can in the future lead to product liability claims and product recalls; exposure to risks related to product liability, product recalls, property damage and injuries to persons, for which insurance coverage is expensive, limited and potentially inadequate; management of cash resources; restrictions imposed by, and as a result of, Pilgrim’s Pride’s leverage; changes in laws or regulations affecting Pilgrim’s Pride’s operations or the application thereof; new immigration legislation or increased enforcement efforts in connection with existing immigration legislation that cause the costs of doing business to increase, cause Pilgrim’s Pride to change the way in which it does business, or otherwise disrupt its operations; competitive factors and pricing pressures or the loss of one or more of Pilgrim’s Pride’s largest customers; currency exchange rate fluctuations, trade barriers, exchange controls, expropriation and other risks associated with foreign operations; disruptions in international markets and distribution channels, including, but not limited to, the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict; the risk of cyber-attacks, natural disasters, power losses, unauthorized access, telecommunication failures, and other problems on our information systems; and the impact of uncertainties of litigation and other legal matters described in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, including the In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, as well as other risks described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any such statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

PILGRIM’S PRIDE CORPORATION

Non-GAAP Financial Measures Reconciliation

(Unaudited)

“EBITDA” is defined as the sum of net income plus interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. “Adjusted EBITDA” is calculated by adding to EBITDA certain items of expense and deducting from EBITDA certain items of income that we believe are not indicative of our ongoing operating performance consisting of: (1) foreign currency transaction losses, (2) transaction costs related to business acquisitions, (3) costs related to the DOJ agreement and litigation settlements, (4) initial insurance recoveries for Mayfield, Kentucky tornado property damage losses, (5) deconsolidation of subsidiary and (6) net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests. EBITDA is presented because it is used by management and we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, in addition to and not in lieu of results prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”), to compare the performance of companies. We believe investors would be interested in our Adjusted EBITDA because this is how our management analyzes EBITDA applicable to continuing operations. The Company also believes that Adjusted EBITDA, in combination with the Company’s financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, provides investors with additional perspective regarding the impact of certain significant items on EBITDA and facilitates a more direct comparison of its performance with its competitors. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measurements of financial performance under U.S. GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for an analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. In addition, other companies in our industry may calculate these measures differently limiting their usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income as indicators of our operating performance or any other measures of performance derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These limitations should be compensated for by relying primarily on our U.S. GAAP results and using EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA only on a supplemental basis.

The summary unaudited consolidated income statement data for the twelve months ended June 26, 2022 (the LTM Period) have been calculated by subtracting the applicable unaudited consolidated income statement data for the six months ended June 27, 2021 from the sum of (1) the applicable audited consolidated income statement data for the year ended December 26, 2021 and (2) the applicable unaudited consolidated income statement data for the six months ended June 26, 2022.

EBITDA margins have been calculated by taking the relevant unaudited EBITDA figures, then dividing by net sales for the applicable period. EBITDA margins are presented because they are used by management and we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, as a supplement to our results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies.

Adjusted Operating Income is calculated by adding to Operating Income certain items of expense and deducting from Operating Income certain items of income. Management believes that presentation of Adjusted Operating Income provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of GAAP operating income to adjusted operating income as follows:

Adjusted Operating Income Margin for the U.S. is calculated by dividing Adjusted operating income by Net Sales. Management believes that presentation of Adjusted Operating Income Margin provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of GAAP operating income margin for the U.S. to adjusted operating income margin for the U.S. is as follows:

Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (“Pilgrim's”) is calculated by adding to Net income (loss) attributable to Pilgrim's certain items of expense and deducting from Net income (loss) attributable to Pilgrim's certain items of income, as shown below in the table. Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is presented because it is used by management, and we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, in addition to and not in lieu of results prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies. Management also believe that this non-U.S. GAAP financial measure, in combination with our financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, provides investors with additional perspective regarding the impact of such charges on net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share. Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is not a measurement of financial performance under U.S. GAAP, has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for an analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Management believes that presentation of adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share to adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is as follows:

(a)  Net tax expense (benefit) of adjustments represents the tax impact of all adjustments shown above.

Adjusted EPS is calculated by dividing the adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim's stockholders by the weighted average number of diluted shares. Management believes that Adjusted EPS provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of U.S. GAAP to non-U.S. GAAP financial measures is as follows:

(a)  Net tax impact of adjustments represents the tax impact of all adjustments shown above.