010201 Tyson Earnings Down on Depressed MarketFebruary 2, 2001Springdale, AR - Tyson Foods Inc. said its fiscal first-quarter earnings fell more than 50% as a depressed chicken market continued to hamper results, but profits still beat Wall Street forecasts. The company also said it had received antitrust approval for its planned $3.2 billion purchase of meatpacking giant IBP Inc. The deal would create a diversified meat processing powerhouse with more than $21 billion in sales from beef, pork and poultry. Tyson's first-quarter net income fell to $27 million, or 12 cents a share, from $57 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. Tyson said the results were at the high end of management's expectations. Analysts had forecast earnings of 10 cents a share in the period, ended Dec. 30, according to research firm First Call/Thomson Financial. “While we met earnings expectations, we continue to be disappointed in the depressed market conditions for chicken,” Tyson Chairman and Chief Executive John Tyson said in a statement. “During this difficult time we have remained focused on moving our products further up the value chain and growing our market share, resulting in less dependency on pure commodity sales.” Tyson sales fell 2% in the first quarter to $1.74 billion from $1.78 billion a year ago. Sales were led by the company's largest segment, food service, which fell to $802 million from $825 million last year. Total profit fell 28% to $120 million from $167 million. Food service profit fell to $37 million from $70 million amid lower market prices and product mix changes, the company said. Stock in Tyson fell $0.24, or 2%, to $13.70 in New York Stock Exchange trading. The stock has traded in a range of $8.50 to $15.50 in the last 52 weeks. Last week Tyson said it was delaying its $3.2 billion purchase of IBP due to a government probe into IBP's accounting practices.
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