Context: How Bolsa Boliviana de Valores works, and what it makes issuers disclose · Bolivia on the LatAm Power Map
A Bolivian meatpacker founded in 2018 that grew from nothing to the country’s most talked-about bond issuer in six years — then ran straight into a regulatory firestorm over export certificates and a collapsing cash flow.
| Key Facts — Frigorífico BFC S.A. | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Frigorífico BFC S.A. |
| Ticker / Exchange | FBF / Bolsa Boliviana de Valores (BBV) |
| Headquarters | Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (processing plant: San Ignacio de Velasco) |
| Sector | Meatpacking & beef export |
| Employees | Not disclosed in available sources |
| Market value (market cap) | Not listed as equity shares; listed via bonds only |
| Total assets (31 Dec 2024) | Bs 1,937,491k (~US$196.7m) — audited, PwC |
| Total liabilities (31 Dec 2024) | Bs 1,454,399k (~US$147.6m) |
| Equity / net worth (31 Dec 2024) | Bs 483,092k (~US$49.0m) |
| Revenue (9 months to 30 Sep 2024) | Bs 1,153,002k (~US$117.1m) — full-year 2024 figure not yet in available public snippets |
| Operating margin (9 months to Sep 2024) | 7.0% (operating result Bs 80,638k on Bs 1,153,002k revenue — our calculation); down from ~20.7% at Dec 2023 |
| Bonds outstanding (31 Dec 2024) | Bs 457,843k (~US$46.5m), across three BBV-listed series |
| Bond credit rating | A1 (AESA Ratings) — second-highest on Bolivian scale |
| Dividend yield | N/A — bond issuer only, no listed equity |
| Website | bfcbolivia.com |
What it is
Frigorífico BFC S.A. was incorporated on 6 June 2018, with an initial paid-in capital of just Bs 70,000 — roughly US$7,100 at the time, which makes the scale of what followed all the more striking.
Its core business is the purchase, sale, and brokering of cattle; the raising and fattening of livestock; and the wholesale and retail sale of processed and slaughtered products, specifically vacuum-packed beef.
It exports primarily to China and Vietnam, and its full-cycle processing plant in San Ignacio de Velasco, which began operations in October 2019, gave it the slaughter capacity to grow exports sharply.
The company markets itself as the leader in vacuum-packed beef in Bolivia, using a single export-grade production line, and operates ten butcher shops in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Montero, La Paz and El Alto, plus two premium “Beef Club” stores.
Who owns it
BFC is controlled entirely by foreign capital — 81% Paraguayan and 19% Brazilian — with no Bolivian shareholders. The majority owner is Frigorífico Concepción S.A. of Paraguay, part of a multinational meatpacking group.
Frigorífico Concepción expanded into Bolivia in 2018 through BFC, holding an 80% direct stake valued at roughly Gs 454,560 million as of mid-2024. The controlling shareholder of Frigorífico Concepción itself is Jair Antonio de Lima, a Brazilian national who holds 94.92% of that parent company.
BFC is the Bolivian arm of the Concepción Group, which also operates in Paraguay and Brazil (as BMG Foods), and routes exports to more than 60 countries through its network.
Who runs it
Pedro Cassildo Pascutti, a Brazilian national who holds the 19% minority stake, has served as Chairman of the Board (Presidente del Directorio) since BFC’s founding in 2018. Paulo Martins Macedo, also Brazilian, acts simultaneously as Board Secretary and General Manager (Gerente General), a role he assumed in February 2019 after joining the broader Concepción Group in 2002.
The 2024 annual financial statements were audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers S.R.L., with the audit opinion issued on 25 April 2025. A CFO is not separately named in available public disclosures.
The money, in plain words
At year-end 2024, BFC held total assets of Bs 1,479,840k in current assets alone, including inventories of Bs 266,919k and biological assets (live cattle) of Bs 255,094k — the raw material sitting on four legs. Total assets reached Bs 1,937,491k (~US$196.7m), nearly double the Bs 1,176,198k of a year earlier (our calculation: +65% asset growth).
Total liabilities at 31 December 2024 stood at Bs 1,454,399k, versus equity of Bs 483,092k — meaning for every boliviano the owners put in, the company carries roughly three bolivianos of debt (debt-to-equity ratio of 3.0x, our calculation). That is a heavy load for a meatpacker of this age.
In the nine months to 30 September 2024, the company recorded operating revenue of Bs 1,153,002k (~US$117.1m) against costs of Bs 957,529k, leaving an operating result of Bs 80,638k. That translates to an operating margin of 7.0% for the period — meaning it kept about 7 cents of operating profit from every boliviano of sales (our calculation), sharply down from better levels a year earlier.
The operating margin stood at 20.7% at December 2023 but fell to 7.9% by September 2024 — a 62% collapse in nine months. For bond investors, the key alarm is interest coverage: by March 2025, leverage had reached 24.8 times operating capacity and the company no longer generated enough cash flow to comfortably cover interest payments.
Summing all credit lines, BFC had drawn approximately Bs 1,020m (~US$103.6m) from Bolivia’s financial system at the close of 2024 — equivalent to roughly three times the company’s entire equity at year-end 2023. Three series of bonds were placed on the BBV in February, June and September 2024, with a total balance payable to bondholders of Bs 457,843k at year-end.
The Bolsa Boliviana de Valores recognised BFC as one of its top bond issuers of 2024, honouring it at the exchange’s inaugural annual “Bell Ringing” ceremony in January 2025. Investors who cheered that award should also read the next section.
What it is doing now
BFC is under investigation for falsifying export certificates for the Russian market. Separately, a major discrepancy has emerged between Bolivia’s official export records and Chinese import data: China records buying 237,576 tonnes of Bolivian beef between 2020 and 2024, while Bolivia’s own figures show only 108,388 tonnes exported — a gap of more than 125%.
Despite the controversy, AESA Ratings maintained its A1 rating — the second-highest on Bolivia’s scale — on BFC’s four bond series throughout 2024, citing “strong capacity to repay principal and interest.”
Bolivia’s pension fund manager (the Gestora Pública) is among the creditors, having channelled public pension savings into BFC bonds. If the company defaults, bondholders and pension fund beneficiaries stand to absorb the losses.
This is news, not investment advice.
Read More from The Rio Times