Its net profit rose to 2.92 billion reais ($521 million) in the first quarter from 1.64 billion reais a year earlier. In a financial statement, JBS said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a measure of operating income known as EBITDA, came in at 8.92 billion reais, above the 8.77 billion reais forecast by analysts. The company's net profit rose 21.2% from the previous quarter. Net revenue rose 28% to 114.1 billion reais in the first quarter from the same quarter last year but was down 2.2% from the fourth quarter. While that division reported net revenue of 37.5 billion reais, a 36% annual increase, operating earnings slid to a loss of 587.2 million reais.