Pilgrims Pride Corporation (PPC) has reported 11.83 percent rise in profit for the quarter ended Dec. 25, 2016. The company has earned $70.62 million, or $0.28 a share in the quarter, compared with $63.15 million, or $0.25 a share for the same period last year. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share were at $0.30 for the quarter compared with $0.26 in the same period last year. Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 2.68 percent to $1,908.15 million from $1,960.78 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 126 basis points over the previous year period to 9.46 percent. Total expenses were 93.49 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 94.50 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 102 basis points in operating margin to 6.51 percent.
Operating income for the quarter was $124.30 million, compared with $107.77 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $172.23 million compared with $149.98 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 138 basis points in the quarter to 9.03 percent from 7.65 percent in the last year period.
"Our Fresh business continued to perform well in Q4 driven by our differentiated portfolio strategy of having a well-balanced mix of multiple bird sizes, geographical coverage, and strong relationships with key customers. Robust traffic at grocery retailers is driving strong demand for our products, a strong indication that chicken demand has remained healthy despite greater availability of other proteins. We remain committed to our prepared foods operations and expect growth in 2017, with new capacity additions at Moorefield to begin contributing to volumes starting in Q1," stated Bill Lovette, chief executive officer of Pilgrims.
Operating cash flow declinesPilgrims Pride Corporation has generated cash of $755.48 million from operating activities during the year, down 22.66 percent or $221.35 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $261.66 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $534.69 million in the last year.
The company has spent $813.13 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $578.65 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $120.33 million as on Dec. 25, 2016, down 72.63 percent or $319.31 million from $439.64 million on Dec. 27, 2015.
Working capital drops significantly
Pilgrims Pride Corporation has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $454.07 million as at Dec. 25, 2016, down 49.51 percent or $445.20 million from $899.26 million on Dec. 27, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.52 as on Dec. 25, 2016, down from 2.06 on Dec. 27, 2015.
Debt remains almost stable
Total debt of Pilgrims Pride Corporation remained almost stable for the quarter at $1,011.95 million, when compared with the last year period. Total debt was 33.64 percent of total assets as on Dec. 25, 2016, compared with 30.57 percent on Dec. 27, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 1.13 as on Dec. 25, 2016, up from 0.80 as on Dec. 27, 2015. Interest coverage ratio improved to 11.97 for the quarter from 10.09 for the same period last year. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
