US meat processor Tyson Foods has reported lower fourth-quarter earnings, hit by the poor performance of its beef unit, but said it was pleased with its full-year results.

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The company reported net income of US$66m, or 19 cents per share, for the fourth quarter to 2 October, compared to $147m, or 42 cents per share, in the same period of the previous year. Sales rose to $7.15bn from $6.57bn a year earlier. Beef volumes were down 4.4% compared to the year-ago period.


Full-year net income was $403m, or $1.13 per share, compared to $337m, or 96 cents per share, in the previous year. Sales were $26.4bn, up from $24.5bn in the prior year.


The company’s accounting cycle resulted in a 14-week fourth quarter and 53-week year in fiscal 2004, compared to a 13-week fourth quarter and 52-week year in fiscal 2003.


“I am very happy with the results we posted in 2004…Our growth in value-added products has risen to 38% fuelled by distribution gains in fully cooked frozen products, bacon, refrigerated ingredient meats and dinner meats, as well as fresh case-ready beef and pork. In August, we introduced a new marketing and communications strategy designed to market our full range of chicken, beef and pork products under the Tyson brand with our new slogan, ‘Powered by Tyson’. We made a lot of progress on our stated goals in 2004, but we still have room to improve,” said chairman and CEO John Tyson.

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The company has targeted 2005 earnings per share in the range of $1.15 to $1.45. Tyson also aims to improve its mix of value-added products to over 40% of sales.