The head of the world's biggest meat group has joined critics of the regime of Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, saying her farm policies are holding back growth in the beef sector.

JBS chief executive Joesley Mendonca Batista said that the group's Argentine division, which it had felt had been "turning a corner", had been undermined by "unpredictable conditions" which were likely to hit profits again this year.

The unit's loss, at the level of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, soared from 25.0m Argentine pesos to 166.5m pesos ($43.2m) last year.

"While the principles of a free economy are denied us, we will be unable to take the measures that our shareholders expect of us," Mr Batista said.

"Self-imposed trading restrictions and application of high tariffs will not enhance growth in our sector. The earlier they end, the better for the whole beef supply chain."

Farmer protests 

The comments come amid a clampdown by Argentina on beef exports, of which it was once a world leader, but which are being curtailed to ensure domestic supplies.

Argentina has also introduced restrictions on domestic beef prices in a bid to help control inflation, besides regulating wheat exports and levying large taxes and corn and soybean shipments.

These measures have provoked regular demonstrations by farmers, including a series of damaging strikes in 2008.

Last month, farmers rallied in the farming province of Santa Fe to protest at, in the main, wheat export curbs.

Return to the black 

JBS's Argentine division, bought in 2005, was its first operation outside the group's native Brazil.

However, its significance has been swamped by expansions elsewhere, notably in the US, where JBS bought fallen chicken giant Pilgrim's Pride out of bankruptcy last year.

The company, unveiling a return to fourth-quarter profit, said it "continues to monitor market conditions to determine the timing" of a stockmarket flotation for its US operations, which was originally scheduled for last year.

The group's earnings of R$127.9m ($71.4m) for the last three months of 2009, compared with an after-tax loss of R$53.2m a year before, reflected lower costs of beef and a drop in administrative expenses.

Sales were, at R$7.41m, down 23% year on year, a drop the group attributed in the main to the appreciation of the Brazilian real against the dollar.

JBS shares closed 1.9% higher at R$9.67 in Sao Paolo.