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With Hillshire Under Its Wing, Tyson Foods’ 1Q Sales, Profit Rise

2 min read

Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale on Friday reported first-quarter net income of $309 million, up 22 percent from $252 million in the same quarter last year.

The publicly traded meat processor, reporting its first full quarter after completing the multibillion-dollar acquisition of Hillshire Brands of Chicago, also said net income per share was 74 cents, up from 72 cents last year.

Sales were a record $10.8 billion, up 23.5 percent from last year. Operating income also reached a record: $564 million, up 37 cents from the same quarter last year.

“Tyson’s fiscal year is off to a great start with our first full quarter as a combined company producing record sales and adjusted operating income,” Donnie Smith, president and CEO, said in a news release. “We used our strong cash flows to pay down debt by $650 million in the quarter.

“We achieved $60 million in synergies in the first quarter, and we are confident we will exceed the $225 million synergy target for this fiscal year,” Smith said. “We also reiterate our guidance of adjusted earnings in the range of $3.30-3.40 per share based on the strength of our diversified and balanced business model.” 

The company said earnings were powered by more demand for chicken and higher prices for beef and pork. The Hillshire acquisition also boosted results in its prepared foods division, the company said.

The Hillshire operations helped Tyson realize a sales increase of more than 130 percent from $907 million to $2.1 billion in prepared foods. Beef sales increased 17.6 percent to $4.4 billion.

Pork sales increased 8.1 percent to $1.54 billion, and chicken increased 4.7 percent to $2.78 billion.

Tyson Foods is holding its annual shareholders meeting at 10 a.m. in Springdale.

Arkansas Business will update this story.

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