Reuters – Brazilian food processor BRF said Aug. 29 that chief executive Lorival Luz had resigned and will be replaced by Miguel Gularte, a top executive at beef-packer Marfrig Global Foods.
Shares in the poultry and pork processor were mixed as BRF investors digested the news.
“To some extent, Miguel Gularte can be described as a beef guy,” BTG Pactual analysts said in a note to clients.
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Whether he can reposition BRF to face stiff competition in Brazil remains an open question. “These are very different industries and require a different set of skills,” BTG said comparing beef operations to pork and poultry processors.
BRF said the move does not reflect an intention to merge the two companies, even though the market has speculated that for some time.
Marfrig, which owns 33.27 per cent of BRF, has said previously it was only interested in a passive stake in BRF. But BTG analysts see Gularte’s appointment as “yet another sign of how Marfrig is effectively taking control and influencing BRF’s operations.”
XP analysts said in a note that Gularte’s appointment was “unexpected,” also highlighting the fact his experience comes from the beef sector.
Still, XP believes Gularte “should be able to make BRF more agile, removing discomforting inertia that was responsible for lost opportunities in BRF’s past.”
