The company’s financial highlights show solid growth across key metrics. Revenues reached $4.631 billion, a 0.5% increase, driven by higher selling prices for domestic and international cheese and dairy ingredients. This revenue growth was achieved even with lower US dairy commodity market pricing. The company also delivered a record first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $426 million, an increase of 11.2%, which translated into a stronger margin of 9.2%, up from 8.3% in the same quarter last year.

Saputo’s operational and commercial strategies were instrumental in achieving these results. The company’s improved performance was attributed to a combination of operational efficiencies from recent capital investments, disciplined execution on customer fulfillment, and proactive cost management. In domestic markets, higher selling prices were implemented to offset inflationary pressures, while in export markets, a favorable relationship between international cheese and dairy ingredient prices and raw milk costs positively impacted results.

In terms of profitability, net earnings for the quarter totaled $165 million, or $0.40 per share. This marks a significant increase of $23 million, or $0.07 per share, compared to the previous year. The growth was primarily due to the higher adjusted EBITDA and a gain on hyperinflation in Argentina, which helped to offset higher financial charges and restructuring costs. The company also returned capital to shareholders, buying back approximately 4.7 million common shares for $123 million and paying $79 million in dividends.