In this May 3, 2009 file photo, Tyson Foods chicken products are displayed on the shelves of a Little Rock, Ark. grocery store.Danny Johnston
Tyson Foods Inc. , the largest U.S. meat processor, reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on higher grain and feed costs and said it expected them to keep rising this fiscal year.
However, sales came in stronger than Wall Street had expected because of higher prices, and Tyson gave a fiscal-year revenue forecast mostly in line with analysts' estimates.
For the fourth quarter ended Oct. 1, net income attributable to Tyson fell to $97-million, or 26 cents a share, from $213-million, or 57 cents a share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 32 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sales rose 13 per cent to $8.40-billion, beating analysts' expectations of $8.20-billion.
The company's operating margin fell to 2 per cent from 5.3 per cent.
Tyson expects fiscal 2012 sales of more than $34-billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $34.01-billion.