First Balance Sheet Following Batista Testimony Reveals That JBS Profits Fell by 80%

08/15/2017 - 11h39

In its first balance sheet ever since the testimony of businessman Joesley Batista was released to the public, meatpacking company JBS stated that its net profit was R$ 309.8 million (US$ 97.1 million) in the second quarter, an 80% drop when compared to the same period of the year before.

On May 17th, leaks to the public revealed that Batista admitted to engaging in corruption and paying bribes to several politicians.

This led the prosecutor general to file corruption charges against president Michel Temer, but it also tarnished the image of the businessman's company -stock prices plummeted and assets were put on the market.

JBS' net income in the second quarter hovered at R$ 41.7 billion (US$ 13.1 billion): almost a 5% drop when compared to the first semester of 2016.

The company announced last week that, because of an ongoing investigation which emerged from the leniency agreement that JBS signed with the consent of the Prosecutor General's Office, it would release its results without attaching an independent auditor's revised report.

According to the company, the situation will be normalized as soon as the agreement is ratified and becomes declassified.

Back in June, the company announced that it signed a leniency agreement along with the Prosecutor General's Office, which amounted to a R$ 10.3 billion (US$ 3.2 billion) penalty.

Though the corruption scandal greatly affected the company, it is still impossible to gauge with precision how heavily its finances were impacted.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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	Leonardo Benassatto/Reuters
	Brazil's billionaire businessman Joesley Batista talks with journalists as he leaves the Federal Police headquarters after giving testimony, in Sao Paulo