Grupo Bimbo reports strong performance across most regions in the three months ending on March 31, 2024. During this time, the company’s gross margin expanded 90 basis points to 52.0%, due to lower raw material costs across every region, which was offset by higher labor costs. Bimbo acquired Trei Brutari in these three months, a producer of bread and cookies in Romania, and three franchisees, as well as a 30% stake in UNO, the packaged bread leader in Turkey. Bimbo also recently acquired Moulin d’Or, a market leader in branded sweet baked goods in Tunisia, expanding Grupo Bimbo’s presence to 35 countries. La Zarcereña, the leader in sweet baked goods and a participant in the cookies and snacks industries in Costa Rica, is another recent acquisition.

In other recent developments, Grupo Bimbo named Daniel Servitje Executive Chair, while Rafael Pamias has been appointed CEO of the company, effective May 1, 2024.

In addition, Ethisphere Institute named Grupo Bimbo as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024, for the eighth consecutive year.

“Following a record 2023, we are kicking off 2024, a year of investing and transforming our business, with a first quarter where we saw the benefits of geographic, category and channel diversification which allowed us to invest in a business unit for future growth, which is the case of North America. We completed four bolt-on strategic acquisitions globally including one in Tunisia, a new market for us: expanding our global presence to 35 countries, while boosting growth and profitability in regions like Mexico and EAA,” said Daniel Servitje, Chairman and CEO.

“The first quarter results were good and mostly, resilient, considering the super peso impact and the tough comparison that we have vs. the first quarter of 2023, where we reported record results in several metrics. Being a diversified global Company has its pluses and minuses: North America had a soft start to the year given a challenging environment, as expected, while Mexico and EAA came in strong, enabling Grupo Bimbo to continue to be in line with our expectations,” added Diego Gaxiola, CFO.

Q1 highlights:

• Despite the tough comparison, Net Sales excluding FX rate impact were essentially flat, reflecting strong sales performance across most regions, which was primarily offset by volume softness in North America
• Gross margin expanded 90 basis points to 52.0% due to lower raw material costs across every region, which was offset by higher labor costs
• Operating Income declined 16.6% and the margin contracted 90 basis points
• Excluding the FX effect, Adjusted EBITDA decreased 3.3%; the EBITDA margin contracted 30 basis points, reaching 12.7%
• Net Majority Income decreased 41.8%
• Return on Equity closed the quarter at 12.6%
• Net Debt/ Adjusted EBITDA ratio closed the quarter at 2.3 times

Photo: Grupo Bimbo