Dive Brief:
- Tyson Foods reported a 4% uptick in revenue for the fourth quarter from $10.11 billion to $10.51 billion, thanks in part to strong chicken demand and a sales boost for prepared foods from the Hillshire Brands acquisition.
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Net income increased to $258 million, or $0.63 per share, from $137 million, or $0.35 per share, last year.
- Sales and operating income for Tyson's chicken segment grew due to the strength of demand and lower feed ingredient costs. At the same time, lower chicken prices partially caused earnings to miss analysts' estimates. Beef prices fell due to cheaper protein competition, with the segment reporting a $33 million operating loss over a $153 operating income last year.
Dive Insight:
"We achieved $322 million in synergies for the fiscal year, and we continue to see more synergy opportunities," he added. "We're raising our synergy estimates for fiscal 2016 to more than $500 million, and we're raising our estimate for fiscal 2017 to more than $700 million. The additional synergies will allow for more investment in innovation, new product launches and the strengthening of our brands," Donnie Smith, Tyson's president and CEO, said in a statement.
Tyson expects domestic protein production, including chicken, beef, pork, and turkey, to rise by about 3% in fiscal 2016, though the company also predicts disruptions related to export bans from other countries to carry on into the new fiscal year. Last week, Tyson announced it would be closing two plants, one in Chicago and the other in Jefferson, WI, which will cut about 880 jobs.
Tyson also announced in October that it would raise wages for most of its chicken plant workers.