Tyson Foods loses money in 4th quarter on hefty goodwill impairment charge; sales climb

Tyson Foods loses money in 4th quarter on charge

SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Tyson Foods, the world’s largest meat producer, lost money in its fiscal fourth quarter primarily on a hefty goodwill impairment charge.

The company lost $455 million, or $1.22 per share, compared with a profit of $48 million, or 13 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding the charge of $1.50 per share, profit was 28 cents per share.

Sales rose slightly to $7.21 billion.

The performance managed to beat analysts’ expectations for a profit of 26 cents per share on revenue of $6.88 billion.

This marks the second consecutive quarter that the company’s chicken business has been profitable. The industry is improving on falling commodity costs and production cuts, which help bolster pricing.