Brazilian food processor BRF SA made a profit of about 1.2 billion reais (about US$268.7 million), last year, its first annual profit for four years, Reuters reports.

The news agency says the biggest exporter of chicken in the world announced that in the fourth quarter alone it made a profit of 690 million reais, 121 percent more than a year earlier, as sales strengthened at home and abroad, particularly in China.

The report says fourth-quarter sales abroad grew by just over 17 percent to 4 billion reais, as BRF exports to China increased in response to demand there for substitutes for Chinese-produced pork, which is in short supply because of African swine fever.

BRF exports to China in January and February were unaffected by the coronavirus epidemic there, Reuters BRF Chief Executive Lorival Luz as saying.