The expansion was caused mainly by the performance of USA Beef which benefitted from higher prices in the quarter and also the performance of the Mercosul Unit, which had a rise of 16 per cent in the volume of fresh beef sold on the domestic market together with a rise in export prices.

About 78 per cent of the company's global sales were in domestic markets and 22 per cent came from exports.

The first quarter EBITDA was R$696.5 million, a fall of 16.7 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2011.

This was due to a negative result coming from the JBS USA Beef section, which posted a loss of US$45.4 million, compared to a profit of US$ 269.7 million in 2011.

JBS said that this result was partially offset by the reversal of PPC negative EBITDA of US$53.5 million in the first quarter of 2011, to a US$104.0 million profit the first quarter of this year.

JBS Mercosul expanded its earnings by about R$200 million, which the company said more than offset the lower results of the JBS USA Pork sector.

The company said that this result reinforces the importance of its protein and geographical diversification.

Adjusted net Income in the period was R$240.3 million excluding deferred income tax liabilities generated by goodwill. Without this adjustment net income was R$116.1.

JBS USA Pork had revenue of US$855.4 million 2.2 per cent higher than in 2011 and earnings were US$55.8 million.

USA Poultry - Pilgrims Pride - had net revenue of US$1.9 billion and earnings of US$104 million for the period, reversing the loss for the same period in 2011.