BRF names Miguel Gularte as CEO of meat processing unit amid concerns over the appointment
BRAZIL – BRF Global, one of the largest global food companies, has appointed Marfrig Global Foods’ CEO Miguel Gularte to be its chief executive of the Brazilian meat processing business, effective today.
Gularte will take office at a company in which Marfrig owns more than 33% giving it a controlling shareholder since April 2022.
While BRF and Marfrig showed signs of merging in 2019, in a stock-exchange filing, BRF said the appointment of Gularte “does not represent an intention, at this moment, of [a] merger between the company and Marfrig Global Foods”.
Beef industry veteran Gularte who has worked in the beef sector for almost 40 years, will succeed Lorival Nogueira Luz Jr., who became the pork and poultry group’s CEO three years ago, moving from the role of Chief of Operations.
However, the company has revealed Nogueira Luz Jr. had filed a letter of resignation to the Board of Directors on Aug. 29.
BTG analysts see Gularte’s appointment as “yet another sign of how Marfrig is effectively taking control and influencing BRF’s operations,” while XP analysts said in a note Gularte’s appointment was “unexpected,” also highlighting the fact his experience comes from the beef sector.
During Marfrig’s announcement of its first-half results earlier this month, it said its status as BRF’s controlling shareholder meant the company’s results would be consolidated into its own as of the second quarter, per accounting requirements
Despite that, XP still believes Gularte “should be able to make BRF more agile, removing discomforting inertia that was responsible for lost opportunities in BRF’s past.”
BRF works under 30 brands in its portfolio including Sadia, Perdigão, Qualy, Paty, Dánica, and Bocatti, which have been reeling from high-cost inflation and makes most of their sales in the domestic market.
The company runs more than 50 facilities in eight countries including Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Marfrig has named Rui Mendonça Junior, the director of its processed-products business in South America, as its new chief executive.
Marfrig generated a net profit last year of BRL4.3bn (US$845.8m) and an adjusted EBITDA of BRL14.5bn (US$2.81bn), whereas BRF had sales of BRL48.3bn (US$9.36bn), an adjusted EBITDA of BRL5.6bn (US$1.09bn) and net income was BRL517m(US$100.23).
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