Tyson Foods’ net income rose to $477 million for the second quarter of fiscal year, a year-over-year improvement of about $100 million.
The company’s sales also rose during the quarter, improving from $10.9 billion in the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 to $11.3 billion for the most recent quarter, which ended on April 3.
Sales for each of the company’s segments – Beef, Pork, Chicken, Prepared Foods, and International/Other – rose during the quarter. While the sales volume slipped in ach of the segments except for International/Other – price changes more that offset the declines in volume.
In terms of operating income for each of the segments, the Chicken, Pork and International/Other segments saw a year-over-year decline in operating profit. The Chicken segment’s operating income dropped from $99 million to $6 million, while the Pork segment dropped from $93 million to $67 million. International/Other went from an operating income of $9 million to an operating loss of $15 million.
The Beef segment’s operating income nearly quadrupled to $445 million, while Prepared Foods improved from $191 million to $217 million.
Another bright spot for Tyson Foods during the second quarter was that it reduced its total debt by about $1 billion.
“We’re grateful for our team members’ continuing efforts and resilience, and for the collaboration and support we’ve received from our customers as we navigate these challenging times,” Tyson Foods President and CEO Dean Banks stated in a press release. “We delivered a very strong performance in a complex operating environment with continued success in retail and improvements in foodservice as the industry is recovering. We generated adjusted operating income growth of 32 percent for the first half of fiscal 2021, driven by solid results in Beef and Prepared Foods.
“We’re seeing substantial inflation across our supply chain, which will likely create margin pressure during the back half of the year,” he added. “We will remain focused on the factors we can control and will continue to work diligently for a full recovery of our Chicken business, while delivering strong results in other areas of our company. Our long-term outlook is bright as global protein consumption continues to grow, and we expect our investments in capacity expansion, product innovation and technology to create sustainable shareholder value.”
