JBS - Q2 2024

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good morning, and welcome to JBS S.A. and JBS USA second quarter of 2024 results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session, and instructions will be given at that time. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Any statements eventually made during this conference call in connection with the company business outlook, projections, operating and financial targets, and potential growth should be understood as merely forecasts based on the company's management expectation in relation to the future of JBS. Such expectation are highly dependent on market conditions, on Brazil overall economic performance, and on industry and international market behavior, and therefore, are subject to change.

Are present with us today, Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS, Guilherme Cavalcanti, Global CFO of JBS, Wesley Batista Filho, CEO of JBS USA, and Christiane Assis, Investor Relations Director. Now, I will turn the conference over to Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS. Mr. Tomazoni, you may begin your presentation.

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for participating in our results teleconference. We had a strong second quarter, further showcasing the strength of our diversification strategy and indicating that the most promising outlook for 2024 is becoming a reality. We recorded net revenue of $19.3 billion, with a consolidated EBITDA margin of 9.8% for the period, adding five percentage points compared to the second quarter of 2023. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $1.9 billion, with a positive free cash flow of $1.1 billion and net income of $329 million in the period.

Following a strong cash flow generation and the outlook for further deleveraging, the company announced yesterday, after market close, the distribution of dividends of $0.037 per share, U.S. dollar. Our global multi-protein platform has enabled JBS to mitigate the natural cycles in our sector and maintain healthy cash generation. As a testament to this strength, 75% of our EBITDA this quarter comes from our poultry and pork operations, predominantly Pilgrim's, Seara, and JBS U.S. Pork. Additionally, JBS Australia, and JBS Brazil also delivered a strong performance. Our poultry and pork business have benefited from lower grain prices and a better balance between supply and demand, thanks to active portfolio management and the operational improvement implemented. U.S. Pork's margin increased from 4.4%-11.1% year-over-year.

With strong results in the United States, Mexico, and Europe, Pilgrim's exceed market expectation, recording the best EBITDA results in its history for a quarter. $782.8 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $375.3 million in the second quarter, 2023, with a margin of 17.2%. A clear focus on operational excellence, discipline, execution, the key customer strategy, as well as its diversified portfolio, allowed Pilgrim's to efficiently navigate the positive market momentum. At Seara, the process of operational improvements continues to progress rapidly, now incorporating enhancements in commercial process, including scientific measurement of pricing, product mix, channels, and more. With our EBITDA margin at 17.4%, Seara confirms the optimistic expectation we have been indicating in the previous quarters.

The investment we have made over the past few years, including the recent opening of two new facility for chicken, value-added product and hot dogs in Rolândia, Paraná, and the expansion in our Dourados plant in Mato Grosso do Sul, all in Brazil, are starting to bear fruits. The strength of our diversification puts JBS in a unique position in the industry. While the market environment in the United States remain challenging, our beef business, Brazil and Australia, are benefiting from favorable cycles in both countries. In Australia, the positive environment reflected a significant increase in margin in the second quarter of 2024, compared to the same period last year. In Brazil, the outlook for the beef business is promising, driven by significant growth in cattle processing volumes, domestic demand increase, and improved export profitability.

Our global diversification strategy is driven by investment innovation and building strong brands, creating a more resilient and higher value-added portfolio. We recently announcing an investment of AUD 110 million to expand our salmon farming at Huon Whale Point facility in Tasmania. We are also finishing construction of new Seara facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which will multiply for four company chicken value-added production capacity in the country. The numbers from the second quarter reinforce the solidity of our financial management. Our leverage ratio decreased from 3.66x in U.S. dollar in the first quarter of 2024, to 2.77x in U.S. dollar in the second quarter, six-month ahead of the schedule. Our results reaffirm our confidence in JBS' long-term strategy.

We are a company with a solid and proven management model, enable us to invest in new types of protein and replicating the success we have had in beef, chicken, pork, and value-added products. The strength of this increasingly diversified platform, combined with our commitment to excellence and innovation, will allow us to continue to generate value for all our stakeholders and create opportunities for our more than 207,000 team members around the world. Thank you again for your participation in this results call, and now, I will pass the floor to Guilherme, who will detail our numbers. Guilherme, please.

Guilherme Cavalcanti (Global CFO)

Thank you, Tomazoni. Let's now move on to the operational and financial highlights on the second quarter of 2024, starting on slide 13, please. Net revenue for the second quarter was $19.3 billion, adjusted EBITDA totaled $1.9 billion, and represents a margin of 9.8% in the quarter. Free cash flow was $1.1 billion in the second quarter of 2024. Net profit was $329 million in the quarter, but adding back non-recurring effects, adjusted net profit would be $470 million. Moving on to this next slide. Operating cash flow in the quarter was $1.8 billion.

Free cash flow for the quarter was $1.1 billion, more than offsetting the consumption of $625 million in the first quarter, and generating $431 million in cash in the year to date. This strong free cash flow generation is explained by the improvement in results from all of our business units, except JBS Beef North America. Capital expenditures in the quarter was approximately $346 million, 63% of which was maintenance CapEx. The total amount is 12% lower than the second quarter, 2023, and is in line with our estimate for the year of $1.3 billion.

Moving on to slide 16, net debt in the second quarter of 2024 ended at $14.8 billion, a reduction of $1.1 billion compared to the previous quarter, reflecting the generation of free cash flow in the quarter. Leverage in dollars came down in just one quarter from $3.66-$2.77 for the second quarter. In the third quarter of 2023, leverage was 4.87x. The rapid decline is due to the expansion of EBITDA, as well as a decrease of debt, given the generation of free cash flow, despite having executed an expansion CapEx of $434 million in the last nine months.

For the third quarter, not considering guidance, leverage will possibly continue on an accelerated downward path, possibly even falling below 2.5x, anticipating our initial deleveraging estimates by almost six months. Therefore, considering that the third quarter and fourth quarter are generally cash generators, it would be reasonable to think of a leverage ratio approximately close to 2x by the end of the year. Already considering the payment of interim dividends in the amount of $808 million, equivalent to $0.30 per share, announced yesterday. The strong free cash flow generation, even though our largest business units in terms of net revenue, JBS Beef North America, is facing a challenging scenario, demonstrates the strength of our unique platform.

Therefore, we are optimistic that the geographic and multi-protein diversification will continue to provide near-term growth and returns to our shareholders. From 2019-2023, JBS generated more than $10 billion in free cash flow before expansion CapEx. These resources were applied in a balanced way in growth and shareholder return, being $4 billion in organic growth, $3.2 billion in acquisitions, $3 billion in dividends, and $3 billion in share buybacks. Net debt increased by around $3 billion, but financial expenses remained constant due to the liability management work, in which we took advantage of favorable moments to issue new debt with more attractive rates.

This year, we have already generated $431 million in free cash flow, and it's worth noting that from the beginning of 2029 to date, the company has already provided an average total shareholder return of 27% per annum in BRL and 19% per annum in USD. In the same period, return on equity and return on invested capital was 19% and 17%, respectively, even with a higher spread over treasury on our cost of debt. For example, in 2019, our spread over treasury was around 400 basis points. Currently, our spread over treasury is around 160 basis points for a 10-year period.

A large part of this improvement, we generated significant returns from our stockholders, occurred after we obtained an investment grade rating from credit rating agencies and when we registered the notes with the SEC. Finally, we would like to thank investors for voting for JBS in the Institutional Investor ranking. We were awarded first place in several categories and elected the Most Honored Company in the Food and Beverage Sector in Latin America. I will briefly go through the business units. Starting with Seara on slide 17, net revenue growth was 6.7% year-over-year, while profitability grew by a significant 13.3 percentage points, reaching 17.4% EBITDA margin. This result is a consequence of the various operational actions implemented throughout the value chain, which resulted in better operational indicators, combined with a lower grain cost and expansion of value-added portfolio.

Seara continues with its strategy of increasing consumer preference through product quality, innovation, execution, and brand strengthening, achieving growth in indexes such as penetration and repurchase. Moving now to slide 18, JBS Brazil recorded net revenue of 5% higher than the second quarter of 2023, driven by higher volume sold. This result is due to the strong demand in both the domestic and international markets, in addition to the favorable cattle cycle, resulting in greater availability of animals for slaughter. Thus, the EBITDA margin reached 7.6%, an increase in 2.8 percentage points. Moving to the slide 19, and from now on, speaking in dollars and in U.S. GAAP, JBS Beef North America's net revenue grew 3% in the quarter as a result of the increased volume sold.

However, profitability was negatively impacted by the challenging cattle cycle, which saw 5% increase in the price of live cattle, while wholesale price of beef remained stable. On slide 20, we have JBS Australia. For the quarter, revenue growth in relation to the previous year is a result of the higher volume sold. The growth in profitability reflects the greater availability of cattle in the market, even more favorable cattle cycle, and efficiency gains in several business units in Australia. Turning now to JBS USA Pork, net revenue for the quarter was 22% higher than the second quarter of 2023, due to the increase in average price in the period. In the domestic market, strong demand was a result of the substitution effect of beef consumption for pork and the increase in consumption during the grilling season.

Furthermore, profitability was a consequence of the lower cost of grains, expansion of value-added portfolio, and consistency in commercial and operational execution. Pilgrim's Pride, as highlighted on the slide 22, recorded an increase in net revenue of 6% in the second quarter compared to the second quarter last year. During the quarter, PPC remained disciplined in executing in the strategy and continued to grow relationships with customers, further improving service levels as market fundamentals became increasingly attractive. Therefore, Pilgrim's reported the highest quarterly EBITDA in history. At this time, I would like to open up for question and answer session.

Operator (participant)

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you have a question, please click on the Raise Hand button. If you would like to remove yourself from the queue, please click on Lower Hand button. Our first question comes from Ben Theurer with Barclays. Please go ahead.

Ben Theurer (Managing Director)

Yeah, good morning, Gilberto Tomazoni. Congrats on those outstanding results in the second quarter. Just a few quick ones. So first of all, Seara obviously was a very strong quarter in the second quarter, and I remember just about a little over a year ago, you had a couple of, like, internal issues. So clearly going within six quarters from, call it a 1% to a 17% margin is a strong improvement. Could you help us understand how much of that improvement was really of the operating efficiencies that you've, as you fixed, versus what was just market tailwinds, lower grain costs, etc? That would, that would be like my first question, and it kind of relates into how this then continues into the third quarter, and if you're expecting any impact from the Newcastle disease outbreak and the restrictions?

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

Hi, Ben. Thank you for your question. You know that we made a lot of improvements inside. We start in the farms to improve our agriculture and production operations in the farms, then in the factories here, the productivity, mix management, all that. Now, one month ago, we start to add our improvements and the commercially, where is this scientific price and management channels and mix management. This will be had more productivity in our commercial area. That we are expecting if we keep all of the variable constant, that Seara will be continuous improve the productivity and the results. If you ask me, how will be the impact of this improvement?

Of course, this improvement was by operations improvements. Why? Because of the price of the grain and the both. I think the both are the significant important factor. I will say you, it is 50/50 of this was improvements, and was the operational, and the other part was the cost of the grains that impact our grow chicken and pork. But there is a combined benefit, because if you are improving the operation in the farms, for example, feed conversions, that make in enhance your productivity in terms of grain. It's difficult to say exactly one, but I will say to you, it's 50/50.

Ben Theurer (Managing Director)

Okay, perfect. And then, just, on the third quarter outlook, July, and the implications still with some of the export restrictions because of the Newcastle disease, are you seeing any impact here within Seara?

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

I think the impact will be in this third quarter. Of course, was impact, but it's not significant impact, because I think is a Brazilian government act very quickly and to attack this situation. I think now the government have declared it is free from Newcastle, and we remain some of countries, China, I think it's China, and Saudi Arabia, I don't remember the other one, is just close the Rio Grande do Sul. The others closed just the focus, then 10km around the focus. And of course, there is impact, but it's not, I will say to you, it's not significant in our results. We are able to manage.

When the moment that they close, we manage because as we have many plants approved, for example, for Japan, we move our production from one plant in Rio Grande do Sul to other plants in part of Brazil. That we were, I think, able to manage very efficiently the situation.

Ben Theurer (Managing Director)

Okay. And then pork in the U.S., just help us understand what helped you drive to a 12.5% margin, which is not only above, like, your kind of like target range or more steady range of 8%-10%. It also looked, like, significantly stronger on a sequential basis, despite conditions in the market not looking as strong. So maybe help us understand what, what drove that significant margin improvement sequentially and on a year-over-year basis in U.S. pork.

Wesley Batista Filho (CEO)

Hey, Ben. So a few things. Obviously, there is the market conditions. You have grains being at a historical low here in the short, in the last few years. You have, you know, obviously, beef being high-priced pork becomes a good option, and that supports the demand for pork. But I would say that all of those things obviously really help, but I think there is a couple of things that are special about this quarter. Number one, I think we've just been performing very well in the pork, in our pork division. It's one of our most consistent divisions and always delivers good results.

We have very good assets that have been very well invested, and I think they're very efficient, and it's a competitive advantage we have in the market. The other thing, too, we've been investing a lot in this business, Ben, with the more prepared foods business. The prepared food, you know, to add value to our pork raw material, we've built a couple of plants, in greenfield plants here in the U.S. We've expanded plants that we currently have.

And, you know, the size of our of our prepared business has been growing a lot, and it adds value on the overall, on this overall business unit. We have two plants that in the last quarters were in ramp-up mode, and those plants are mostly, one of them is fully mature, the other one is well advanced into maturity, and they are adding a lot of value to our pork business. Going forward, you know, we expect that double-digit margins is where we see this pork business going forward.

Ben Theurer (Managing Director)

Thanks for that, Wesley.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Ben Mayhew with BMO. Please go ahead. Ben Mayhew, you may proceed.

Ben Mayhew (VP of Ag/Protein Equity Research)

Sorry, guys, I was on mute. Thanks for taking the question. I was just wondering if you could talk to the strength of the domestic Brazil demand for protein, and how JBS is meeting the moment and providing consumers with both premium and value products. Also, do you expect strength in domestic demand to continue into 2025? And what are the major factors you're looking at? Thanks.

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

Hi, Ben. Thank you for the question. We are very optimistic about the internal demand in Brazil. For example, I give you an example. I think example is better than just to speak about theories. With our beef operation in Brazil, we have processed 18% more compared to the first semester in terms of cows. And the domestic – and we sell more this growth in domestic than export. Why? Because when they reduce the cost of the cows, reduce the cost of the meat, the elasticity of the consumption increase a lot. We grow our business, and because the per capita consumption increase a lot in Brazil. And the same was not different with chicken and the value-added product.

We see that the Brazilian domestic demand is really good, and we are see that's continue. We are investing on that. It's not -- we just not to invest in the same product that, for example, when we talk about Seara, we innovate because we, as you know, we have invested in new capacity for value added. But we enter in the market, not in the same product that we were before. We enter with new products in order to create a new demand for our products, and not just compete in terms of price and volume, but compete in the preference of the consumers. That's it. My answer to you, we are positive on that.

Ben Mayhew (VP of Ag/Protein Equity Research)

Great. If I could just ask one more question. Can you just talk to the impact of lower grain costs and how they're benefiting JBS's margins across the portfolio? I know you mentioned Seara, so, we heard the answer there, but how much do you actually pass through versus not, of your lower grain costs? And what is your outlook for grain costs headed into 2025? Could they even get, you know, more favorable? Thank you.

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

Ben, you know that, the most important, in this equation is the balance between, demand and offer. If today, we have, we have balanced demand and offer in chicken, and it's because we have restrictions in terms of availability of chicken, because of genetic and because of hatchability. As I think it's Fabio have comment, you know, when they released the results of Pilgrim's. And this is one fact. The other fact, is we see good crops now in front of us. The weather was, I think is in the north, was, was perfect. I think is we, we see now from, from now on, a stability in terms of the price of the grains.

If we are balanced in the offer and the demand, I believe that we JBS will be keep doing in terms of business the same kind of result we have seen now. Of course, we need to be constant that this second quarter is the best quarter. For example, for Pilgrim’s the second and third quarter is not the better as the second quarter. That this is the seasonality will be appears as well.

Ben Mayhew (VP of Ag/Protein Equity Research)

Great, thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Orges Asllani with Barclays. Please go ahead.

Orges Asllani (Credit Research Analyst)

Hi, thank you for taking our question. This is Orges asking on behalf of Priya. Starting on the debt side, how are you thinking about the debt structure, given where leverage ended this quarter? And do you see the need for further pay down or any liability management?

Guilherme Cavalcanti (Global CFO)

Hi, thank you for the question. So we now, generally, before election periods, markets then should be more volatile, and we are seeing more volatile in treasury markets as well. So given that we are not needing cash, I think we ended the quarter with a healthy cash balance. We just announced that payments of $808 million of dividends, which, again, we have the cash, the proceeds for that already, so I don't need to raise additional go to the market for the payment of this dividends. So we don't see any, again, a necessity. We have no need to go to the market. So, and it depends on, again, the evolution of the cash to the end of the year.

We see if we, if, if we may pay more dividends, sorry, pay more, debt, as we did, in the first semester when we paid $500 million in bonds at JBS, and more paid more bonds in BBC. But again, we'll be monitoring the markets and, depending on the gap. Generally, we generate free cash flow in the third and fourth quarter. So if we think, again, After we're doing our budgeting in the second semester, if you have more visibility of next year cash generation, we may think about, paying down debt again. But it will depend the opportunities and what, we see, now in this second semester.

Orges Asllani (Credit Research Analyst)

Thank you. And then on the dividend side, given the interim dividend that you just announced, how much total dividend should we expect to be paid out this year? And do you think this dividend announcement might have an impact on the timing for the outlook, change to stable from the rating agencies?

Guilherme Cavalcanti (Global CFO)

No. Again, we just announced this dividend because we are confident that even with this dividend, I think, we'll be able to have the negative outlook withdraw from our rating. And why is that? Because for the third quarter, we are expecting to end below 2.5x. The dividend payments will be in October, but again, as last year, third quarter, last year, we had $1.1 billion in EBITDA. In the fourth quarter, last year, we had $1 billion EBITDA. Okay, this quarter that we just presented, we have $1.9 billion EBITDA. So we will have EBITDA expansion until the end of the year.

And we presented a good cash conversion this quarter, and third quarter and fourth quarter are generally cash generator quarters. So because of the EBITDA expansion and the free cash flow generation, even with this dividend payments, we expect to finish the year close to 2x that EBITDA. So I think with this perspective, I think, rating agencies, at some point, will take out the negative outlook and managing to keep low leverage, maybe we'll target to have upgrades, maybe next year. And the level of dividends, that, again, it depends on our free cash flow perspective. We announced this dividend, because, as I mentioned, we generated in only three months, $1.1 billion in free cash flow.

So given that we have no pressure in that payments and we see more free cash flow going forward in second semester, we were very comfortable with this dividends. The level of dividends, again, we'll we would like to have it more stable as possible. We don't have, again, figured out yet. But if you look at the last years, for example, 2021, we paid $900 million in dividends. 2022, we paid $873 million in dividends. In 2023, we paid less dividends. We paid $448 million because it was a challenging year. So this year, now we are back on our average. So when we pay this $808 million. So again, it all depends on how it perform going forward, but I think this level of dividends is very comfortable.

Orges Asllani (Credit Research Analyst)

Great. Thank you so much.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Carlos Laboy with HSBC. Please go ahead. Excuse me, Carlos, your microphone is on mute.

Carlos Laboy (Managing Director)

Sorry. Good morning, everyone. Guilherme, can you please give us an update on the NYSE listing process, where it stands, and is it going slower than you expected, or is it tracking along fine?

Guilherme Cavalcanti (Global CFO)

Hi, Carlos. No, again, I think it's a regular process. Remember, we were now in a period of vacation, right? Summertime in U.S., so a lot of people takes vacations, so everything gets to a lower pace. But again, the process is on. We are, you see that, we'll, we're doing the filings, getting the comments on the memorandums, and answering them, the new filings. I think the process is normal, but again, it's out of our control.

But again, at some point, and then if you compare, we've been on there, of course. At some point, then the questions will be decreasing. All the comments will be difficult to have any more comments, besides we are adding the quarterly figures. So yeah, unfortunately, it's not in our control, but it's a regular process, and we'll be on this as maybe few time rounds before we get the registration green light to be able to ask to call the general assembly.

Carlos Laboy (Managing Director)

That's all. Thank you, Guilherme.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from Carla Casella with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Carla Casella (Managing Director)

Hi. Most of my questions have been answered, but, can you just give a sense for, how long you think until we see the bottom of the beef cycle in the U.S.?

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

Hey, Carla. We are pretty optimistic about, you know, the beginning of the retention in the U.S. We see, you know, cow slaughter coming down 15% year-over-year. We think that that's a huge sign of the retention starting. The moment that's very important for us to watch out for is gonna be this fall, and we're gonna see what happens. But I think that 2025 will be a similar year to 2024, and we're probably gonna see the, if nothing changes weather-wise and all of that, we probably could see, somewhere in 2026, things changing regarding beef supply, cattle supply.

Carla Casella (Managing Director)

Okay. And then on the pork side, are you seeing any difference in Smithfield's tactics, from a competitive standpoint, given that they're talking about listing in the U.S. as well?

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

Well, I don't know what to comment about Smithfield and listing, but I don't think I have anything relevant to tell you about that. Our business still pretty much the same, and we're focused on all the things that we... on our business, not so much about what our competitors are doing, especially something related to listing.

Carla Casella (Managing Director)

Great. Thank you.

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

Thanks.

Operator (participant)

Ladies and gentlemen, there being no further questions, I would like to pass the floor to Mr. Gilberto Tomazoni. Please go ahead.

Gilberto Tomazoni (Global CEO)

Thank you all again for your participation, for the questions, for this result of call. I would like to extend my thank you for all our team members for the dedication and commitment to deliver these great results. Thank you, all, all of you.

Operator (participant)

This is the end of the conference call held by JBS. Thank you very much for your participation, and have a nice day.