Grupo Bimbo: posts higher profit in Q2/2008

Mexico City / MX. (gb) Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V., the world´s No. 3 bread maker said in the second quarter 2008 profit rose 4,2 percent as price increases offset record flour costs and acquisitions drove sales higher. Net income climbed to 819 million MXN in Q2/2008 from 786 million MXN a year earlier, the Mexico City-based group said in its statement. Sales rose twelve percent to 19,7 billion MXN. Price increases in the United States and Mexico, its two largest markets, offset rising costs for wheat, Grupo Bimbo said. Sales in Mexico jumped eleven percent to 13,3 billion MXN and 40 percent in Latin America, to 2,56 billion MXN on the acquisition of Brazil´s Nutrella Alimentos SA. Higher raw material and energy costs put «significant pressure» on profits, the company said. The company raised prices at the end of last year and at least once this year in the United States and Mexico to cover rising oil, grain and energy costs, according to the statement.