Beyond flesh posts second consecutive quarter of yoy growth

Beyond the flesh Plans to dismiss 6% of the workforce and to suspend the operations in China to reduce the operational expenses, says the loss company, which registered the second consecutive quarter of the year (YOY) after two years to decrease sales.

The company, which POSTED A 4% increase in net sales to $ 76.7 million in the fourth quarter, determined by lower prices and lower commercial discounts, will reduce 44 employees in North America and the EU, eliminate certain open positions and make “unspecified changes to the executive management team.”

It will also suspend operational activities in China until the end of the second quarter, reducing the workforce there by about 20 employees, said CEO Ethan Brown analysts, analysts.

“We intend to improve the gross margin at about 20%, with the long -term goal of finally exceeding a gross 30%margin,” Brown added.

“2024 was a pivot year for flesh. I returned to the increase in net income from year to year in the second half, significantly expanded the gross margin from the previous year, suddenly reduced the operating expenses and offered a significant improvement from year to year of the adjusted EBITDA. “

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Q4 2024 by numbers:

• Net income: +4% year by year (yoy) at $ 76.7 million, volume -2.1%
• Net loss: $ 44.9 million
• The margins: The gross profit was $ 10 million with a 13.1% gross profit margin
• Retail Income from the US: +5.7% yoy at $ 33.9 million; volumes -4.5%
• Income for US food services: -2.1% yoy up to $ 10.5 million; volumes -11%
• International retail revenues: +1.7% yoy at $ 13.1 million; volumes -10.4%
• International Food Services: +9.2% Yoy at $ 19.3 million; volumes +8.9%
• The full year 2024 Perspectives: Net revenues of $ 320-330 million
• Balance sheet: On September 28, 2024, beyond the cash bank and cash equivalents was $ 134.9 million, and the total outstanding debt was $ 1.1 billion.
• FY 2024 Income: $ 326.5 million, down 4.9% from year to year

According to a SEC registration of November 2024, beyond the Chinese branch of the Meat it concluded an agreement with the Administrative Committee of the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development area at the end of 2020 to rent an installation in the area for at least two years. The agreement was modified in December 2022 to extend the deadline for another five years.

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Distribution wins in France

On the international markets, Brown said he felt crowded about France, with Beyond Steak Lansing for retailers selected and beyond Nuggets, which launches at 1,500+ McDonald selling points.

Other recent expansion areas in Europe include the introduction of Smash Burgers in Tesco in the UK and a burger beyond plants at Wendy’s in Georgia (the country), he said.

Large brand blocks in the US

In the US, beyond the meat continues to work with retail traders at Merchandising, Brown said. “Our goal is to return to large brand blocks. I am more and more agnostic about the fact that they are fresh or frozen, but what I want to see is that the consumer can be able to easily identify in the store where we can buy our products. “

The company also intends to combat consumers’ perceptions of the other as extremely processed, said Brown, which led against attempts to “reinforce” the word “processed” to “undermine herbal meat and keep the status quo.”

He added: “If you look at the prices of beef today, they start to grow. What is this about? In part, this is about drought, right? And this is not something that a government or industry can solve. If you look at the avian animal industry … this (avian influenza) is not something that is easy to content. All these things will worsen with a heating climate …

“At one point, serious people have to take a step forward and take care of these problems and we are there to help.”

Beyond the meat will the addition of fat cultivated to its products consider?

Asked by an analyst if beyond the meat he would consider adding fat cultivated to his products, Brown said he would “look at everything”, but added that “I think the trend is actually in the opposite direction. Is it how simple we can make these products? “

He added: “What the consumer will bring back is a fundamental understanding that this is a very simple and clean product, which has an excellent taste and is very good for you.”

Regenerative beef a “non-starter”

As for regenerative agriculture, he added: “All these positions around, you know:” We will do regenerative agriculture … “

“Any serious scientists around the regenerative beef will tell you that it is just a non-Starter. Sure, you can have some beef on the pasture, but you have to be far away, much less, right? So this will not provide a solution of global protein. “

The manufacturing network: “We had to go and reverse everything”

The gross margins will continue to improve, said Brown, which has reduced the number and inventory and has come out of co-factory contracts in the last 18 months.

“Three or four years ago we threw us back to build this network, and then we had to turn to reverse all of this … The team took a very fragmented production network with over 13 different sites, Copackers and consolidated it in our own domestic production and then another tree. That made a huge effort … and I didn’t complete completely.

“We make some incremental investments in our facilities to increase automation. We make another RFP for materials and ingredients. “

Debt of $ 1.1 billion

The company, which registered a net loss of $ 44.9 million in the quarter, had a cash balance and cash equivalents of $ 145.6 million on December 31, 2024 and a total outstanding $ 1.1 billion due to an $ 1 billion+ offer of convertible notes made in March 2021 (When the sales at the company have reached the maximum) which will mature at the beginning of 2027.

According to Brown: “In 2025, we will continue to evaluate the options to continue to improve the liquidity and to optimize our capital structure. We have no guaranteed debt, and our unsecured training gives us significant flexibility to follow a series of potential transactions. “

CFO Lubi Kutua added: “We implemented our program on the market (ATM) in the fourth quarter of 2024, which generated net revenues of about 46.7 million USD by selling about 9.75 million new shares of common actions.

“Currently, we implement a wide set of initiatives that are intended to position the company for positive EBITDA operations supported on the basis of the rolling rate until the end of 2026.”