Tyson Foods Sees Drop in 2Q Profit

Higher feed costs due to last year’s drought resulted in lower earnings for the second quarter, Tyson Foods Inc. said May 6.

The Springdale-based meat processor posted earnings of $95 million, or 26 cents per share, on May 6 for the quarter that ended March 31. In last year’s second quarter, Tyson reported earnings of $166 million, or 44 cents per share.

The company fell far short of the average earnings estimate of 45 cents per share from 11 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 1.83 percent to $8.42 billion.

Tyson president and CEO Donnie Smith said in a news release that the second quarter is generally the company’s most challenging, “and this quarter was no exception.”

“However, our business is structured to withstand adverse conditions, and we worked through the issues while positioning ourselves for what we believe will be a strong performance in the second half of the year,” he said.

Chicken sales grew 0.1 percent, while the beef, pork and prepared foods segments saw sales drop. Beef was hardest hit, with sales falling 3.9 percent.

Also May 6, Tyson declared a quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share of Class A common stock and 4.5 cents per share of Class B common stock, payable Sept. 13 to shareholders of record at the close of business Aug. 30.

Tyson’s shares closed May 6 at $24.10, down 83 cents or 3.33 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares have traded between $14.07 and $25.12 in the past year.