Moody’s Positive on Brasil Foods

Moody’s has changed the outlook of Brasil Foods’ Ba1 rating to positive from stable. The ratings agency cites margin improvement in FY2010 following the acquisition of Sadia in 2009 and the expectations that business performance and margin trends will remain favorable. The change in outlook incorporates the increasing proportion of value-added processed foods in the sales mix, Moody’s says. Processed food accounted for almost 60% of total sales in 2010. Brasil Foods is one of the largest food processors in LatAm with 63 plants and FY2010 net revenues of BRL22.7bn.