Brazil’s BRF misses forecasts with $26 million Q3 loss

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian food processor BRF SA on Wednesday posted a net loss that narrowed in the third quarter while still missing analysts’ hopes of a small profit, dragged by higher costs of debt amid surging interest rates.

BRF, which sells pork and poultry across Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, reported a quarterly net loss of 137 million reais ($26 million), compared to a 277 million reais loss a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Refinitiv had projected a 64.8 million real profit.

BRF said its results were weighed by high interest rates that pushed up the cost of its debt. Interest on loans and financing reached 474 million reais, it said, up 25.3% from a year earlier, it said.

BRF’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) landed at 1.4 billion reais, in line with a 1.42 billion real estimate.

The group’s net revenue meanwhile grew 13.4% to 14.05 billion reais, while income from Brazil, its main market, rose 6.6% to 6.81 billion reais.

Revenue from its shipments abroad reached 6.54 billion reais, 7.4% higher than a year earlier, as it fattened its margins from sales to China, Japan and South Korea.

($1 = 5.1864 reais)

(Reporting by Nayara Figueiredo; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Sarah Morland)