Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. meat group, states that although its earnings fell by 48% to $137 million in the three months ending September 27, however, this decline was due to one-time challenges such as a plant fire and costs associated with integrating its Hillshire Brands acquisition. Excluding one-time incidents, earnings for the time period increased 12.7% to $469 million. The group predicts a strong 2015 for the chicken sector as demand is predicted to rise between 3% – 4% while production is estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to increase by 2% – 3%. Given these conditions, Tyson’s margins could exceed 10% compared to the 7.4% reached in the last quarter. In contrast, beef is expected to see weaker results with slightly lower profitability from last year due to an imbalance of supplies of fattened cattle. Results for pork will be dictated by expected growth of 2% – 3% in hog supplies, with Tyson forecasting margins in the historically typical range of between 6% and 8%.
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