Meat&Poultry - February 2012 - 10

Business Notes

Tyson Q1 income eases under softer beef results
Disappointing results in the beef segment were a factor contributing to a 48 percent decrease in income during the fiscal fi rst quarter for Tyson Foods Inc. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the company had income of $156 million, equal to 42 cents per share on the common stock, which compared with income of $298 milSmith

EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor

Joel Crews
Executive Editor

year. The segment had sales of $3,467 million, up 9 percent from $3,185 million. During the company’s quarterly media teleconference call Feb. 3, Smith addressed a number of topics including Tyson’s position on sow housing. The company said later in a statemen: “The Humane Society of the United States is once again making a demand that was previously rejected by shareholders of Tyson Foods. HSUS presented a sow housing proposal at Tyson’s 2009 annual meeting and it was overwhelmingly voted down by the company’s shareholders.” Tyson supports the pork industry’s Pork Quality Assurance Plus program, which incorporates pork producer guidelines for animal well-being. Tyson buys hogs from thousands of independent hog producers who use a variety of different operating systems, including individual and group housing. Tyson also owns a small hog breeding subsidiary, representing less than 3 percent of the company’s pork production, which also uses individual and group housing. As noted by the National Pork Producers Council, there is no scientific consensus on the best way to house gestating sows because each system has advantages and disadvantages, according to Tyson. “As part of our commitment to animal well-being, we will continue to monitor scientific research on animal-handling practices, including alternative housing for sows,” the statement concluded. ■

Keith Nunes
Senior Editor

Bryan Salvage
Managing Editor

Kimberlie Clyma
Contributing Editors

Richard Alaniz Dr. Temple Grandin Jerry Karczewski Leo Quigley

Larry Aylward Steve Kay Steve Krut Bernard Shire

Internet Editor

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PUBLISHING STAFF
Chairman and Group Publisher

Charles S. Sosland
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L. Joshua Sosland
President, Publishing Director

lion, or 78 cents per share, du r ing t he

Mark Sabo
Publisher

Dave Crost
North American Sales Director

same quarter of the previous year. Sales totaled $8,329 million, up 9 percent from $7,615 million during the same quarter of the previous year. “Even with higher feed ingredient costs, our Chicken segment returned to profitability in the fiscal fi rst quarter on improved prici ng a nd execution,” said Donnie Smith, president and CEO. “Prepared Foods had a strong performance, and t he Pork segment continued to produce outstanding results. Our Beef segment is experiencing a rough patch as a result of challenging market fundamentals. Although we are still outperforming industry indexes, if current conditions continue our Beef results will be pressured in our second quarter.” Operating income within the Beef segment fell 73 percent to $31 million from $116 million during the same quarter of the previous

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Publisher Emeritus

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Classified Designer

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Digital Systems Analyst

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Sharon Alexander
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Meat&Poultry - February 2012

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