Marfrig Alimentos S.A., a food producer with the most diversified meat operating base, has announced its results for Q1 2010.

The Company's gross revenue was BRR3.4 billion, up 26.0 per cent and 40.0 per cent, respectively, on fourth quarter (Q4) 2009 (BRR2.7 billion) and Q1 2009 (BRR2.4 billion). Net revenue came to BRR3.2 billion, 43.2 per cent and 26.0 per cent higher than in Q1 2009 (BRR2.2 billion) and Q4 2009 (BRR2.6 billion), respectively.

EBITDA was BRR406.9 million, increasing by 148.8 per cent and 103.4 per cent on Q1 2009 (BRR163.6 million) and Q4 2009 (BRR200.0 million), respectively, while EBITDA margin stood at 12.6 per cent, compared with 7.8 per cent in Q4 2009 and 7.3 per cent in Q1 2009.

Marfrig recorded net income of BRR41.7 million, reversing the loss of BRR38.2 million recorded in Q1 2009 and reducing by 62.7 per cent from the BRR111.7 million recorded in Q4 2009.

Recent acquisitions were added to the figures for the first time in Q1 2010: SEARA, Zenda (only one month), five plants leased to meatpacker, Mercosul (which operated the whole quarter), and three plants leased to meatpacker Margen (which operated for only one month in the quarter).

Marfrig says it began the repositioning process of the brand, Seara, in the domestic market in Brazil through investments in sports marketing, which included sponsoring the Santos Soccer Team and the Brazilian soccer team (2010 to 2014) in all categories. Seara will increase its international exposure by sponsoring the championships organised by FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) until the World Cup of 2014, through a contract that also envisages the exposure of the brands Paty, Moy Park and Pemmican.

Seara, which has begun presenting consistent return rates, was ranked for the first time in its history among the 50 most valuable brands in Brazil, in a survey conducted by the BrandAnalytics Institute and Millward Brown published in Isto e Dinheiro.