From staff reports
news@joplinglobe.com
SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Tyson Foods, one of the largest employers in Southwest Missouri, reported net income in its first quarter of $160 million, or 42 cents per share, on revenue of $6.6 billion.
That compares to a loss of $102 million, or 27 cents per share, one year earlier, with comparable revenue of $6.5 billion.
The outlook for Tyson’s chicken segment also is expected to improve in 2010, the company said in a statement issued last Friday.
Tyson CEO Donnie Smith said in that statement: “Chicken began to show the improvement we’ve been working toward for more than a year.”
Tyson officials also indicated they expect pricing for chicken to improve “aided by cold storage inventories and pullet placements, which are down relative to the levels we have seen over the last several years.”
Grain costs also are declining.
For the first quarter, sales of Tyson chicken came to $2.4 billion, compared to $2.2 billion for the same quarter one year earlier.
Poultry prices were up 2.8 percent.
“With more than a half billion dollars in operating cash flow, we generated a record first quarter earnings per share,” Smith said in a statement, “and drove down debt by $400 million.”
The earnings came as China announced anti-dumping duties of up to 105.4 percent Friday on imports of U.S. chicken products, which is likely to raise Tyson’s costs there.
Smith said Tyson is “still assessing” the issue.
The Associated Press contribued to this article.
Local numbers
Tyson Foods has more than 1,300 employees and approximately 180 contract poultry growers at its complex in Noel. It has 770 employees and approximately 130 contract growers at its Monett complex.
