Speaking in a video presentation hosted by Brazilian retail brokerage XP Inc., Miguel Patricio said the affected factories, two in the U.S. and one in the U.K., are in the food service segment and saw demand drop due to the pandemic, mainly in Europe.

In a statement sent after the video, in which Patricio said the plants had been halted, Kraft said, “These facilities have significantly reduced production.”

Patricio, who took over as Kraft Heinz’s CEO last year, said its packaged food units are working in three shifts to meet high demand, especially for macaroni and cheese in the U.S. and canned beans and soups in the United Kingdom.

“We feel that people are seeking more comfort food at this moment, as they seek some other ways to feel pleasure,” Patricio said.

He said operations in China are returning to normal now, but he feels that consumers’ behaviour has changed, as individuals are using more home deliveries.

Patricio said he considers Kraft Heinz to be a “safe haven” but is worried about the effect of credit constraints on its suppliers, adding that he is looking at ways to address the issue.

The company’s shares were up 2.7 per cent on Friday even as the S+P500 slumped 1.5 per cent.

— Carolina Mandl reports on Brazil’s finance sector for Reuters from Sao Paulo.

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Sources close to the company say JBS is working on a transaction that is different from the one proposed in 2016.

The U.S. listing would be simultaneous with the partial or full sale of BNDES’ 21.3 per cent stake in JBS, two of the sources said.

The transaction model is not yet final, as discussions are ongoing. But JBS expects to spin off its international operations to be listed in New York as a separate company with the same shareholders, but not a subsidiary. Operations in Brazil will continue under JBS SA, currently listed at the Sao Paulo stock exchange.

Around 75 per cent of JBS’ revenue is obtained outside Brazil, mostly in the United States, but also in Australia and Europe.

JBS and BNDES declined to comment on the matter.

Last November, BNDES hired the investment banking units of Banco Bradesco SA, Banco BTG Pactual SA, Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Bank of America and UBS Group.

One of the sources said the company still expects to list in the United States in the second quarter of the year, but the roadshow dates are being pushed back by the volatility related to the coronavirus outbreak. JBS will report its fourth-quarter earnings on March 25.

JBS management would join BNDES executives in the roadshow to sell their stake, the sources added. The company will probably not hire a bank, but only lawyers, for the spin-off and listing of its international operations, according to two of the sources, since the company is not planning a primary offering.

A listing of JBS in the United States would face pressure from lobbyists and lawmakers that have recently demanded investigations about the company and its shareholders, brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista.

Among the international JBS operations previously proposed for inclusion in such a listing is the company’s Brooks, Alta. beef packing plant, one of Canada’s largest, with capacity to process up to 4,200 head of cattle per day.

— Reporting for Reuters by Tatiana Bautzer, Aluisio Alves and Carolina Mandl in Sao Paulo.

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Wesley Batista, the former CEO of JBS, and his brother Joesley are the largest individual shareholders. They have been accused by prosecutors of snapping up dollar future contracts based on their knowledge of a plea bargain deal in a corruption case they had signed last year.

The billionaire brothers were arrested in September last year and jailed. Both of them were released around five months later.

The proposed settlement involved an offer from JBS, the Batistas and related companies to pay a total 184.5 million reais (C$58.6 million) in six installments quarterly to end the proceedings, CVM said. Settlements do not necessarily imply an admission of guilt, it added.

According to the regulator’s calculations, the accused may have made a profit that surpassed 600 million reais (C$190.6 million), it said, adding it “could be the most serious case of improper use of privileged information and price manipulation in the history of Brazil’s securities market.”

JBS and the Batistas declined to comment. Their lawyer has previously described the charges as “unjust and absurd.”

In addition to the currency futures bet, the companies in question also traded stocks based on nonpublic information about the plea bargain deal, CVM said.

The regulator said it had decided to reject the financial settlement after considering the severity of the accusations.

It remains unclear what kind of remedy the regulator is hoping for, although it could push for a conviction or at least an admission of guilt.

The regulator declined to comment when asked about the matter.

In a separate case regarding the late disclosure of plans for an initial public offering of JBS Foods International BV, CVM agreed to a deal with JBS shareholders and former executives.

— Carolina Mandl is a reporter for Reuters in Sao Paulo.

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After a capital increase at its Chilean subsidiary Athena Food, Minerva said it will gather its operations in Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia under Athena and list them in Chile.

Minerva said its industrial units outside Brazil produced total gross revenues of 1.581 billion reais ($421.39 million), equivalent to 40 percent of the company’s total gross revenue.

Revenues outside Brazil more than doubled from a year earlier as Paraguayan exports to Russia increased following a Russian ban on Brazilian beef and pork imports, Minerva said.

The IPO should take place within 12 months, the company said.

Minerva reported on Tuesday a net loss of 926 million reais in the second quarter, compared with the 55.6 million reais loss it had year earlier.

In June last year, Minerva acquired JBS SA’s units in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina for $300 million, after founders of the world’s largest meat processor admitted to paying bribes to Brazilian politicians. ($1=3.7519 reais)

– Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle.

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