M. Dias Branco Profit Falls 22% to US$33 Million as Costs Squeeze Margins

Brazil · Earnings

The pasta and biscuit maker sold more food than a year earlier. Yet thinner margins and lower average prices ate into the bottom line.

Brazilian food maker Dias Branco just showed how hard it is to protect profit when costs climb faster than prices. The pasta and biscuit giant, known formally as M.

Dias Branco, earned R$168.9 million, about US$33 million, in the second quarter of 2026. That was 22% less than a year earlier, even though it sold more food.

What the second quarter showed

The Ceará-based company reported its results after markets closed on 13 August 2026. The headline number was a net profit of R$168.9 million, or roughly US$33 million.

That figure was down 22% from the R$216.4 million posted a year earlier. So the company kept selling well but took home much less.

Net revenue barely moved, slipping 0.9% to R$2.70 billion, close to US$520 million. In plain terms, sales held steady while profit shrank.

The gap between those two lines tells the story. Costs and pricing, not weak demand, drove the decline.

Why M. Dias Branco earned less

The squeeze came from margins rather than sales. Operating expenses rose and weighed on the bottom line, even as the factories stayed busy.

EBITDA, a rough measure of operating cash flow, fell 17.5% to R$284.4 million, about US$55 million. Its margin narrowed to 10.5%, down from 12.7% a year earlier.

Prices also worked against the company. The average price across all categories fell 5%, from R$6.00 to R$5.70 per kilo.

Lower prices can win shelf space, yet they thin out each sale. As a result, more volume did not translate into more profit.

More food out the door

The volume story was actually a bright spot. Sales volume rose 4.4% to 477.3 thousand tonnes in the quarter.

That suggests shoppers kept reaching for the company’s pasta, biscuits and flour. Demand, in other words, was not the problem.

Cheaper prices likely helped move those extra tonnes. So the firm traded some margin for market share.

Over the first half, volumes reached 885 thousand tonnes. The direction of travel on the shelf remains upward.

A rare gross-margin gain

Not every margin moved the wrong way. Gross margin, measured before overheads, actually improved to 34.2% from 33%.

That hints at some relief on raw materials during the quarter. Better buying or milder input costs can lift the gross line.

Yet the gain stopped there. Higher expenses further down the income statement erased the benefit.

This is why EBITDA still fell even as gross margin rose. The pressure sat in operating costs, not in the cost of goods.

The bigger cost picture

Food makers live and die by a few big inputs. Wheat, energy and freight all feed into the price of a packet of pasta.

Analysts had expected a softer quarter, so the drop was not a shock. Still, the scale of the profit fall drew attention.

Management framed the period as two-sided. The company gained volume and share, while expenses pressured earnings.

For a firm this size, small shifts in cost ripple widely. A few cents per kilo, multiplied by 477 thousand tonnes, add up fast.

How this compares with recent quarters

The year has been bumpy for the company. In the first quarter of 2026 it earned R$106 million on thinner margins.

Back in February, full-year results showed profit falling about 10% on a cost squeeze. The pattern has been persistent.

This latest quarter continues that theme rather than breaking it. Costs keep testing the company’s pricing power.

Even so, the business remains solidly profitable. The debate is about the size of the margin, not survival.

What it means for shoppers

For consumers, the numbers carry a quiet upside. Falling average prices mean staples got a little cheaper on the shelf.

Pasta, crackers and flour are pantry basics across Brazil. So even small price moves reach many kitchen tables.

The company is clearly choosing volume over fat margins for now. That trade tends to favour buyers in the short run.

Whether prices stay soft depends on costs. If wheat or freight climb, some of that relief could fade.

What investors will watch next

The market’s focus now turns to margins in the second half. Investors want to see whether the squeeze eases or deepens.

The stock trades in São Paulo under the ticker MDIA3. It carries Fitch’s top domestic rating, renewed earlier this month.

That rating signals a stable balance sheet despite the profit dip. So the company has room to ride out a soft patch.

For now, the message is simple. Selling more is not enough when each sale earns less.

More: Brazil news, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much did M. Dias Branco earn in the second quarter of 2026?

It reported net profit of R$168.9 million, about US$33 million, down 22% from R$216.4 million a year earlier. Results were released on 13 August 2026.

Why did profit fall if sales volumes rose?

Higher operating expenses and lower average prices squeezed margins. EBITDA margin fell to 10.5% from 12.7%, so extra volume did not lift profit.

What does M. Dias Branco make?

It is a Ceará-based food company, one of Brazil’s largest, producing pasta, biscuits, wheat flour and related staples. Its shares trade on B3 as MDIA3.

Did revenue grow in the quarter?

No. Net revenue slipped 0.9% to R$2.70 billion, roughly US$520 million, even though sales volume rose 4.4% to 477.3 thousand tonnes.

Sources: InfoMoney; Estadão; Valor Econômico; Investidor10.