“Today GRUMA reported operating results at the end of the first quarter of the year (1Q17). Highlights include growth in most of its subsidiaries.”.

• Net sales and EBITDA in operations outside of MEXICO respectively accounted for 75% and 69%, of consolidated figures.
  
  
• During 1Q17 the company invested $1,089 million pesos to build its two new plants in Dallas and Russia, as well as to expand and make improvements in its plants in Florida, Monterrey, and England.
   
• Operating profit rose 7% amounting to $2,180 million pesos in 1Q17; EBITDA was $2,697 million pesos.
   
• Gruma’sdebt in 1Q17 declined $41 million dollars with respect to December 2016 to $734 million dollars. Gross debt/EBITDA ratio is 0.9x times.

MEXICO City, 26 April 2017. Today Gruma S.A.B. de C.V. reported operating results at the end of the first quarter of the year (1Q17). Highlights include growth in most of its subsidiaries. ItsNet profitin the period was $1,296 million pesos;Majority Net Profitwas $1,282 million pesos, 1% above the figure recorded for the same period in 2016, thus growing from $1,267 million pesos to $1,282 million pesos. This improvement can be mainly attributed to better operational performance in Gruma Corporation, its subsidiary in United States, and Gruma Mexico.

Operating profitin the company rose 7% in the period to $2,180 million pesos. This growth was mainly driven by improved yield in operations in United States and Grupo Industrial MASECA in Mexico, and due to the positive effect of the peso depreciation vis-à-vis the dollar.

At the end of 1Q17,sales volumewas at 973 thousand metric tons, 3% above the figure reported for the same period in 2016.

Net salesfor Gruma, the world’s leading corn flour, tortilla, and wrap manufacturer grew 12% with respect to 1Q16, and amounted to $17,677 million pesos. This growth was mainly driven by the aforementioned sales volume, and by Gruma Corporation and Grupo Industrial MASECA, its subsidiary in Mexico. During 1Q17 sales from operations outside of Mexico accounted for 75% of the total.

Cost of sales,as a percentage of company net sales, rose to 62.4% from 61.4%, mainly driven by United States and Mexico. In absolute terms, cost of sales increased 14% to $11,031 million pesos.

It is noteworthy that in the United States, Gruma operations still benefit from the growth of the tortilla industry and the corn flour market, because Mexican food restaurants are claiming a larger share in the market, and because of the growing popularity of tortillas and other corn-derived products in businesses other than Mexican food.

Company EBITDA grew 9% vs. the same period in 2015 to $2,697 million pesos. This increase was driven by all company subsidiaries, particularly by its operations in United States and Mexico.

Gruma’sdebtin 1Q17 was at $734 million dollars, therefore, gross debt/EBITDA ratio was 0.9x times.Company debt declined $41 million dollars vs. December 2016.

During 1Q17, the company madecapital investmentsin the amount of $1,089 million pesos, which were used inUnited Statesto build a new tortilla plant in Dallas, to expand capacity at its corn flour plant in Indiana, and its tortilla plant in Florida. InMexicoinvestments went towards expanding the tortilla plant near Monterrey, reopening the corn flour plant in the central part of the country and overall technological improvements. InEuropeinvestments were made to build a tortilla plant in Russia and for technological improvements to automate packaging at the flat bread plant in England. InAsiamoney was invested to expand capacity at the plant in Malaysia.

Relevant Events during the Quarter:

Standard & Poor’s Confirm Gruma’s Rating

Expectations that Gruma’s financial and operational performance will continue to be robust, therefore, Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings confirmed the company’s global ‘BBB’ rating. “We expect that Gruma, the Mexican corn flour and tortilla manufacturer, will maintain solid and stable credit indicators during the next 12 to 24 months, and consequently confirm our global ‘BBB’ issuance rating for the company’s debt and perspectives remain stable,” indicated the firm.

MASECA Supports Mexican Family Budgets

As part of its social responsibility and commitment towards its clients and consumers, Grupo Industrial MASECA (GIMSA) announced its commitment to uphold prices on its corn flour during the first half of 2017, provided no extraordinary changes occur on the prices of its main inputs that could substantially affect GIMSA’s production cost structure. Thus, Grupo Industrial MASECA contributes to stable prices to benefit the Mexican population.