Brazilian pork and poultry processor Sadia has seen an 11 per cent rise in its gross profits for the first quarter of the year, rising from R$219.6 million (€219.6m) in 2001 to R$243.7 million.
The company's turnover rose from R$847.7 million to R$981.3 million, a rise of nearly 16 per cent. Over the quarter Sadia saw a rise in exports from a third of the sales in 2001 to 38 per cent this year.
Pork sales rose rapidly by more than 50 per cent and poultry sales rose by 7.7 per cent.
Walter Fontana Filho, Sadia CEO, said: "In the first quarter of 2002, Sadia initiated recovery of profitability on the domestic market, which was one of the major challenges for this year.
"Domestic sales revenues expanded in a satisfactory fashion, despite the significant reduction of volumes experienced in March because of the concentration of consumption of Easter products.
"The phenomenon of a decline in the sale of meat during the period preceding the recent Brazilian religious holiday - which is an historic occurrence and affects the entire market segment - was accentuated this year because of a drop in consumer purchasing power, with salaries having slipped for the past two years now and personal budgets being squeezed."
He added: "On the export market, Sadia's sales remained high, posting both sales volume and revenue growth compared to last year.The mix of export sales continues to develop and the company is opening up new markets in tune with its goal of conquering and consolidating a presence in the greatest number of markets possible."