MEXICO CITY, April 23 (Reuters) - Mexican conglomerate

Alfa on Tuesday posted a first-quarter net profit of

1.02 billion pesos ($62 million), swinging to profit from the

loss of 252 million pesos it posted a year earlier, citing a

strong performance by its food unit.

The Monterrey-based company, whose business lines include

food and petrochemicals, said revenue for the first quarter of

2024 was 69.78 billion pesos, down 8.6% from the year before.

Revenues at Alfa's chemicals arm Alpek were hit by the

appreciation of the peso, which was up 8% against the U.S.

dollar at the end of March compared to the previous year, though

food unit Sigma scored record volumes.

The conglomerate is aiming to spin off Alpek into a new

listed entity to avoid the weaker results of one affecting the

valuation of the other, as it previously did with its

telecommunications unit Axtel and auto parts maker

Nemak.

Net debt was 84.95 billion pesos at the end of March.

In a statement, Chief Executive Alvaro Fernandez said

cutting down the company's debt was a "key element of Alfa's

final phase of transformation."

"Aggregate debt outside Alpek must be reduced to maintain a

healthy leverage supported by the generation of Sigma's cash

flow," he said.

Operating profit, meanwhile, landed at 4.91 billion pesos,

up 25% from a year earlier thanks to a good performance at

Sigma.

Alpek also boosted earnings, despite higher costs linked to

the closure of PET operations at its Cooper River site.