EBITDA totaled R$251 million, up by 101% YoY, with a margin of 7%.

February 2023 – FriGol recorded the best financial and operating results ever reported by the Company, reaching R$3.8 billion gross revenue in 2022, increasing 21% YoY. This was the third consecutive year of growth above 20%, which contributes to the consolidation of its position among the main Brazilian meatpacking companies.

The growth was accompanied by profitability, and the Company recorded a net income of R$133 million, up by 226% over 2021. EBITDA totaled R$251 million, up by 101% YoY, with a margin of 7%. As a result of financial discipline, the Company lowered its leverage to 1.1x the Net Debt/EBITDA ratio (compared to 1.3x in 2021).

“Due to the strategy of diversifying markets and choosing the most profitable ones, exports accounted for 53% of our revenue”, says Eduardo Miron, CEO of FriGol. China was the main destination, followed by Israel. In 2021, the Company was awarded with new authorizations, which adds to the 60 countries export portfolio, to export to the United Kingdom, Iran, Lebanon, Argentina, and Canada. “This trend should continue as, in 2023, we were already authorized to export to Indonesia”, says the CEO.

In the domestic market, despite the sector being impacted by lower consumption of beef, as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, inflation, and reduced purchasing power, the Company continued investing to increasingly serve quality products to customers and focusing on higher value-added sales. In this sense, it opened a new distribution center in Jandira (SP) to serve Greater São Paulo and expanded Açougue Completo, a successful project in partnership with supermarkets, which closed 2022 with 50 stores in the São Paulo State.

For FriGol’s CFO, Eduardo Masson, the progress in the capital structure is among the highlights of the year. “In 2022, we have significantly changed our capital structure by strengthening the Company’s cash and closing the year with a cash balance of R$259 million, a YoY increase of 167%”, he says. The executive recalls that the Company debuted in the capital market in 2022 with two issues of Agribusiness Receivable Certificates (CRA), raising R$211 million, which was used to extend debt.

To follow the virtuous growth cycle, sustainability is at the core of FriGol’s business strategy. In 2022, the production chain traceability initiatives were crowned with an audit by the Federal Prosecution Office in Pará, which confirmed that 100% of cattle purchases and suppliers complied with socio-environmental criteria. Also in 2022, the Company disclosed the first Annual and Sustainability Report, and the first greenhouse gas inventory.

In 2022, the Company also improved its governance with the support of the Board of Directors, which is composed by seven members, three of whom are women and two are independent members, as well as the support of Ernst & Young in internal processes, Deloitte in the Whistleblowing Channel, and Grant Thornton in external audit.