March 19, 2007

Tyson expects profits for all four units for second quarter

Tyson may post profits in all four of its units for its second fiscal quarter, ending March 31 its CEO Richard Bond said.

In a webcast, Tyson CEO Richard Bond said he is optimistic that Tyson's pork, beef, chicken and prepared foods segment would all be profitable for the first time since the third quarter of fiscal 2005

However, as cattle prices are rising late last week, he declined a firm commitment.

Tyson's fiscal first quarter ended a streak of three consecutive quarterly losses

The company reported a 46 percent increase in profits during its fiscal first quarter on increased chicken sales

and reduced costs.

The company also narrowed first-quarter losses in beef from US$64 million in 2005 to US$23 million in 2006.

Tyson also said that newly launched R&D efforts on adding value to beef products are expected to boost profits.

Tyson's net income grew to US$57 million in the three months ended Dec. 30. The company earned US$39 million, during the same period a year ago.
 
Sales inched up 2 percent to almost US$6.6 billion from about US$6.5 billion last year.

The company is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings April 30.