Tyson Foods, Inc. said Monday its profits rose sharply in its fiscal third quarter, in-line with Wall Street forecasts, but sales edged lower following the company's sale of its beef division assets.
Tyson's net income totaled $45.2 million, or 21 cents a share, in the quarter ended June 28, compared with $14.6 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The results narrowly beat industry analysts' average estimate of 20 cents a share, according to figures provided by First Call.
Record feed grain costs weighed heavily on profits a year ago.
The giant Arkansas-based chicken processor said revenues declined to $1.59 billion in the latest quarter, from $1.63 billion a year ago, due in part to the sale of certain beef and pork division assets in its fiscal first quarter of 1997.
"From a purely comparative perspective, our numbers for the third quarter of this year versus the third quarter of last year are acceptable, but when viewed in relation to our own expectations, we still have a few issues to resolve," Chairman Leland Tollett said in a statement.
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