Tyson Foods’ 1Q Profit Down 47.7% – UPDATE
by February 3, 2012 11:05 am 112 views
Tyson Foods Inc. attributed a 47.7 percent drop in the company’s first-quarter profit largely to higher grain and feed ingredient costs.
Reporting early Friday, the Springdale-based meat processor posted earnings of $156 million, or 42 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared to earnings of $298 million, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier.
The company beat the average earnings estimate of 33 cents per share from 16 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Revenue rose 9.4 percent to $8.33 billion from $7.62 billion in the quarter.
Tyson’s pork segment was the only one to see increased sales volume for the quarter, partly on the strength of exports.
President and CEO Donnie Smith noted in a news release the chicken segment returned to profitability for the quarter despite higher feed costs. Pork and prepared foods remained strong performers, he said, but the beef segment is experiencing a “rough patch” due to challenging market conditions.
“Although we are still outperforming industry indexes, if current conditions continue, our beef results will be pressured in the second quarter,” Smith said.
Still, Tyson’s “multi-protein, multichannel, multinational business puts us in a position to deliver sustainable earnings over time,” he said.
Tyson shares were trading at $19.65 at mid-morning on the New York Stock Exchange, up $1.03, or 5.53 percent. Shares have ranged between $15.60 and $21.06 in the past year.
UPDATE – Also, at its annual shareholders meeting Friday at the Holiday Inn Convention Center, Tyson Foods elected nine people to its board of directors.
The board members are chairman John Tyson, Kathleen M. Bader, Gaurdie E. Banister Jr., Jim Kever, Kevin M. McNamara, Brad T. Sauer, Robert Thurber, Barbara A. Tyson and Albert C. Zapanta.
Shareholders also reapproved the performance goals for the company’s stock incentive plan and ratified the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending Sept. 29.
A representative from the Humane Society of the United States, which is a company stockholder, was expected to speak at the meeting about the use of gestation crates to confine breeding sows in Tyson’s supply chain. However, Tyson president and CEO Donnie Smith said in a conference call with the media after the meeting that the representative was present but did not speak.