Pilgrim's Pride Reports Net Sales of $2.70 Billion, Operating Income of $85 Million and GAAP EPS of $0.12 for the Third Quarter of 2018

GREELEY, Colo., Oct. 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pilgrim's Pride Corporation PPC reports third quarter 2018 financial results.

Third Quarter Highlights

• Net Sales of $2.70 billion, -3.2% vs same quarter last year. Net Income of $29.3 million.
  
• Operating Income margins of 4.0% in U.S., -4.0% in Mexico and 5.4% in Europe operations, respectively.
  
• Adjusted EBITDA of $156.0 million (or a 5.8% margin) and Adjusted EPS of $0.21, for one-time tax and currency translation.
• Our diverse portfolio of differentiated products and Key Customer strategy have continued to generate a more resilient performance and moderate margin impact compared to peers despite one of the most difficult pricing environment ever in U.S. commodity chicken, a slowdown in Mexico and feed cost pressures in Europe. Non-commodity U.S. chicken, including organic and small-birds, continues to perform relatively better to help mitigate the results of our U.S. business.
• Integration of European business is tracking better than expectations and ahead of our $50 million synergy target for the next two years, supporting a margin increase of 130bps over last year while still retaining its consistency and offsetting the volatility of the other businesses.
• Very challenging market environment during the quarter in Mexico, but is already starting to recover and we remain focused on operational excellence and offering customized products to satisfy growing demand for chicken. Investments into premium Pilgrim's brand is gaining pace and producing better than expected results.

(1)  Reconciliations for non-GAAP measures are provided in subsequent sections within this release.

"During Q3 conditions in the U.S. markets continued to be mixed, with the commodity segment experiencing counter seasonal and weak pricing whereas the less commodity businesses better balanced. Despite challenging market conditions in commodity chicken, the investments we made over the past few years, the recent acquisitions and our capture of operational improvements, are adding diversification and differentiation to the evolution of our portfolio to deliver more resilient performance regardless of specific market conditions," stated Bill Lovette, Chief Executive Officer of Pilgrim's.

"In Europe, the integration is tracking better than expectations and we are slightly ahead of our $50 million synergy target for the next two years, supporting a margin increase of 130bps over last year. The results, given the adverse scenario of feed inputs, are a proof of our more stable business model, while our team members improved the operations and contributed to the strong performance by continuing to focus on cost optimization, cost control, excellent customer relationships, synergy capture and a culture of constant innovation while still maintaining a consistent margin performance of the business. As part of the integration activities, our team is driving for an increased focus on utilization of the whole chicken by opening up more opportunities and diversifying into new markets to improve the cutout."

"Supply in Mexico Q3 grew more than expected as a reaction to strong prices in the first half and also as a result of outstanding growing conditions, impacting market prices. Prices are already recovering and while Mexico can be volatile quarter to quarter, historically our operations have produced very good margin performance on a full-year basis and we expect this trend to continue in the future. Prepared Foods are growing at a double digit rate and are generating strong results under both premium Pilgrim's and Del Dia to drive the evolution of our Mexican portfolio towards more differentiated, higher-value products, and expanded margins."

Conference Call Information

A conference call to discuss Pilgrim's quarterly results will be held tomorrow, November 1, at 7:00 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/ppc181101.html

You may also reach the pre-registration link by logging in through the investor section of our website at www.pilgrims.com and clicking on the link under "Upcoming Events."

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." Please note that to submit a question to management during the call, you must be logged in via telephone.

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. The webcast will be available for replay through February 1, 2019.

About Pilgrim's Pride 

Pilgrim's employs approximately 51,300 people and operates chicken processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.K., 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. 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: 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 channel, including anti-dumping proceedings and countervailing duty proceedings; and the impact of uncertainties of litigation as well as other risks described under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORPORATION

Selected Financial Information

(Unaudited)

"EBITDA" is defined as the sum of net income (loss) 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: (i) income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests, (ii) restructuring charges, (iii) reorganization items, (iv) losses on early extinguishment of debt and (v) foreign currency transaction losses (gains). 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 US ("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.  The Company also believes that Adjusted EBITDA, in combination with the Company's financial results calculated in accordance with 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 GAAP.  They should not be considered as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities or as a measure of liquidity or an alternative to net income as indicators of our operating performance or any other measures of performance derived in accordance with GAAP.

EBITDA margins have been calculated by taking the relevant unaudited EBITDA figures, then dividing by Net Revenue for the applicable period.

A reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to Pilgrim's Pride Corporation per common diluted share to adjusted net income (loss) attributable to Pilgrim's Pride Corporation per common diluted share is as follows:

A reconciliation of GAAP earnings per share (EPS) to adjusted earnings per share (EPS) is as follows: