November 16, 2005

Tyson sees rise in fiscal Q4 net profits
 

Tyson Foods Inc. said its fiscal Q4 net profits ending Oct 1, rose to US$98 million or US$0.28 a share, up 48 percent from US$66 million or US$0.19 a share from the same period last year.

A US$15 million net tax benefit and US$8 million in pretax losses from Hurricane Katrina were included in the latest results.

The company's fiscal Q4 sales fell 9.1 percent to US$6.5 billion from US$7.15 billion during the same period last year. Chicken, pork and beef sales fell 9.6, 14, and 6.4 percent respectively. Tyson's beef segment saw a US$13 million operating loss during the quarter, compared with a profit of US$40 million during last year's fiscal Q4.

Tyson said Japan might resume US beef imports by the end of this year, though sales might be limited in light of competition from Australian suppliers, who catered for Japanese demand after the country banned US beef due to mad cow disease two years ago.

Meanwhile, Chairman John Tyson expected beef operating results to remain poor during the first half of the new fiscal year. He added that so far, pork demand worldwide has been "good and steady," while concerns over bird flu have not significantly affected the company's global chicken sales.