Tyson Foods Inc. Aquisition Gives Higher Earnings

John Tyson said Tyson Foods Inc.’s acquisition of IBP Inc. last year gave the company “a larger basket of goods.” It also gave the Springdale company higher earnings in its fiscal third-quarter.

During a conference call July 29, Tyson Foods reported third-quarter net income of $107 million, or 30 cents a share, compared with $19 million, or 9 cents a share, in the same period of 2001. That beat analysts forecasts of between 24-27 cents a share.

“I am pleased with our results for the quarter,” said John Tyson, chairman, president and CEO of Tyson Foods. “Despite the difficult challenges we continue to face, our value-added protein portfolio worked to enable us to meet our per-share earnings guidance. Our company continues to generate strong cash flows we can use to pay down debt and grow our business to meet the needs of our customers.”

Third-quarter sales were $5.9 billion compared with $1.92 billion a year ago. Sales for the first nine months of 2002 were $17.61 billion compared with $5.54 billion for the same time last year.

Tyson Foods also predicted that fiscal 2002 earnings per share would range from $1.08 to $1.12.

Earnings for the third quarter of 2002 were $107 million compared with $19 million for the same period in 2001.

Tyson said, “In a sluggish economy, we’ve done OK. Sometimes OK is OK.”

Tyson Foods was among many meat companies in the United States hurt earlier this year when top poultry buyer Russia implemented a month-long ban on imports of U.S. poultry. That ban lifted in April, but there is another threat of a Russian ban that could take place in September.

Tyson Foods has also undergone much scrutiny following the U.S. Justice Department’s 36-count indictment claiming Tyson had a corporate conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens for work at its processing plants. The trial date has been set for February.