Tyson Foods buys back $239 million of bonds in third quarter, remains opportunistic

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., Aug. 3 - Tyson Foods, Inc. bought back $239 million of its bonds in the third quarter and will continue to be opportunistic about making additional bond repurchases going forward, Dennis Leatherby, chief financial officer of Tyson, said Monday during the company's quarterly earnings conference call.

At the June 27 end of Tyson's third quarter, the company had $845 million of cash and cash equivalents and net debt just under $2.5 billion. The net debt figure represented a $152 million reduction from the end of the second quarter.

"Our cash position has allowed us to get off to a great start addressing debt," Leatherby said.

The company is targeting driving net debt to $2 billion or below within the next 12 to 18 months, he said.

During the third quarter, Tyson was able to free up cash and reduce net debt largely as a result of working capital improvements, Leatherby said.

Total debt was $3.5 billion at the end of the quarter, while total liquidity was $1.7 billion.

Tyson's third-quarter results reflected profitability in all of its operating segments, as well as operational improvements in the company's chicken segment, where they were most needed, Leland Tollet, interim chief executive officer of Tyson, said during the call.

Sales and operating results in the chicken segment were positively impacted by increased volume as well as higher average sales prices.

Company-wide Tyson reported net income of $134 million on $6.66 billion of sales. The figures compared with net income of $9 million on sales of $6.85 billion in the year-ago period.

Tyson is a Springdale, Ark.-based processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.