JBS the Brazilian poultry giant which will soon be a direct competitor to MHP in North Africa and the Middle East announced a fourth-quarter loss of 539.3 million Brazilian reals (US$325 million), compared with a net profit of BRL127.9 million (US$77 million) in the fourth-quarter of 2009. The loss was attributed to non-recurring expenses regarding the redemption of outstanding corporate bonds worth US$314 million. Analysts say that the loss could have been avoided if the company had gone through with a IPO with Pilgrim’s Pride. Instead the company did not want to dilute control and took advantage of very low cost credit to raise money in the Brazillian bond market. Although highly profitable the story points out how critical market timing is when raising money and company financial performance. The question in Ukraine is whether agro holdings such as Mriya or Lotture have missed the opportunity to raise money to shore up their balance sheets. Certainly Rize, Dakor and Ukrros did. That’s why they are gone.

UkrAgroConsult