Tyson Foods CFO Apologizes Again for Behavior as Company Profit Is Pressured

“I’m embarrassed and I want to let you know that I take full responsibility for my actions. I also want to apologize to our investors, as I have to our employees,” Mr. Tyson said on a Monday conference call discussing Tyson’s most recent quarterly results. “I just wanted you to hear all of this directly from me and to know that I am committed to making sure that this never happens again.”

Tyson’s independent board directors are overseeing a review of the matter, said Chief Executive

Donnie King.

“I am confident in this independent process,” Mr. King said on a Monday call with analysts.

In a companywide email last week, Mr. Tyson apologized for his actions and said that he was getting counseling on alcohol usage.

On Monday, the company said its profit for the three months that ended Oct. 1 fell to $538 million from $1.4 billion a year earlier, falling short of what Wall Street analysts had expected. Quarterly revenue rose about 7% to $13.7 billion as prices across its business rose 5%, and sales volume grew 2%. For the year, the company’s average sales price was up 12%, while sales volumes were flat from 2021.

“We feel good about our performance,” said Mr. King. “We delivered record sales and earnings for the full year.”

Tyson shares ticked down slightly on Monday. The company’s stock is down about 23% this year.

Tyson said the average sales price for beef was 8% lower over the company’s fourth quarter, compared with the same period a year ago, as consumers opted for cheaper meat cuts. The price of pork was 1.5% lower. The sales price of chicken, meanwhile, surged 18%. Prices increased 11% in Tyson’s prepared foods business, which includes brands such as Jimmy Dean and Ball Park.

Tyson said that its chicken business, which produces roughly one-fifth of the U.S. supply, improved its operating income to $340 million for the quarter, compared with a $136 million loss last year. The company is working to revamp its chicken operations, which have in recent years struggled to meet demand.

Tyson’s chicken problems have ranged from not hatching enough chicks to short-handed processing lines in plants. The company has had to pay more for grain to feed its chickens and higher wages to keep plants staffed.

The company said on Monday that a plan to revamp its operations, aiming to save more than $1 billion by the end of its 2024 fiscal year, is ahead of schedule and will be done by the end of its 2023 fiscal year. The plan includes building new plants and automating parts of existing ones. Tyson said it now expects overall sales to be between $55 billion and $57 billion for 2023, higher than analysts had predicted.

Quarterly operating income from its beef unit fell to $375 million from more than $1.1 billion a year earlier. Nearly 40% of Tyson’s $53 billion in fiscal 2022 sales came from its beef business.

The company’s pork unit swung to a $55 million loss during the quarter. U.S. pork companies are paying more for the hogs they buy from farmers as they shrink the size of their herds, pressuring meatpackers’ profits.

In its annual filing, Tyson confirmed that the Justice Department had opened a civil investigation into how chicken farmers are paid and their contracts with processors. The company said it would cooperate with the Justice Department’s probe.

The largest U.S. meat supplier by volume recently reshuffled some of its top leadership positions. It is closing several key offices in Illinois and South Dakota that housed about 1,000 employees and is aiming to relocate those positions to its Arkansas headquarters.

Mr. King said he wasn’t sure how many employees would choose to move to Arkansas from those offices or depart the company. The deadline for employees to decide is Monday, he said.

“There will be some people who, at this point in their life, can’t move,” Mr. King said. “We will try to create an opportunity where they can stay with the company long enough so that their replacement could be hired and trained so that we have no business interruption.”

The $24 billion meat company overhauled its executive ranks in September, and announced that Mr. Tyson would take over the CFO role at the beginning of October. Tyson moved its former CFO into a new role running its prepared-foods division, and assigned its chief legal officer to run its international business, among other changes.

—Dean Seal contributed to this article.

Write to Patrick Thomas at [email protected]

“I’m embarrassed and I want to let you know that I take full responsibility for my actions. I also want to apologize to our investors, as I have to our employees,” Mr. Tyson said on a Monday conference call discussing Tyson’s most recent quarterly results. “I just wanted you to hear all of this directly from me and to know that I am committed to making sure that this never happens again.”

Tyson’s independent board directors are overseeing a review of the matter, said Chief Executive

Donnie King.

“I am confident in this independent process,” Mr. King said on a Monday call with analysts.

In a companywide email last week, Mr. Tyson apologized for his actions and said that he was getting counseling on alcohol usage.

On Monday, the company said its profit for the three months that ended Oct. 1 fell to $538 million from $1.4 billion a year earlier, falling short of what Wall Street analysts had expected. Quarterly revenue rose about 7% to $13.7 billion as prices across its business rose 5%, and sales volume grew 2%. For the year, the company’s average sales price was up 12%, while sales volumes were flat from 2021.

“We feel good about our performance,” said Mr. King. “We delivered record sales and earnings for the full year.”

Tyson shares ticked down slightly on Monday. The company’s stock is down about 23% this year.

Tyson said the average sales price for beef was 8% lower over the company’s fourth quarter, compared with the same period a year ago, as consumers opted for cheaper meat cuts. The price of pork was 1.5% lower. The sales price of chicken, meanwhile, surged 18%. Prices increased 11% in Tyson’s prepared foods business, which includes brands such as Jimmy Dean and Ball Park.

Tyson said that its chicken business, which produces roughly one-fifth of the U.S. supply, improved its operating income to $340 million for the quarter, compared with a $136 million loss last year. The company is working to revamp its chicken operations, which have in recent years struggled to meet demand.

Tyson’s chicken problems have ranged from not hatching enough chicks to short-handed processing lines in plants. The company has had to pay more for grain to feed its chickens and higher wages to keep plants staffed.

The company said on Monday that a plan to revamp its operations, aiming to save more than $1 billion by the end of its 2024 fiscal year, is ahead of schedule and will be done by the end of its 2023 fiscal year. The plan includes building new plants and automating parts of existing ones. Tyson said it now expects overall sales to be between $55 billion and $57 billion for 2023, higher than analysts had predicted.

Quarterly operating income from its beef unit fell to $375 million from more than $1.1 billion a year earlier. Nearly 40% of Tyson’s $53 billion in fiscal 2022 sales came from its beef business.

The company’s pork unit swung to a $55 million loss during the quarter. U.S. pork companies are paying more for the hogs they buy from farmers as they shrink the size of their herds, pressuring meatpackers’ profits.

In its annual filing, Tyson confirmed that the Justice Department had opened a civil investigation into how chicken farmers are paid and their contracts with processors. The company said it would cooperate with the Justice Department’s probe.

The largest U.S. meat supplier by volume recently reshuffled some of its top leadership positions. It is closing several key offices in Illinois and South Dakota that housed about 1,000 employees and is aiming to relocate those positions to its Arkansas headquarters.

Mr. King said he wasn’t sure how many employees would choose to move to Arkansas from those offices or depart the company. The deadline for employees to decide is Monday, he said.

“There will be some people who, at this point in their life, can’t move,” Mr. King said. “We will try to create an opportunity where they can stay with the company long enough so that their replacement could be hired and trained so that we have no business interruption.”

The $24 billion meat company overhauled its executive ranks in September, and announced that Mr. Tyson would take over the CFO role at the beginning of October. Tyson moved its former CFO into a new role running its prepared-foods division, and assigned its chief legal officer to run its international business, among other changes.

—Dean Seal contributed to this article.

Write to Patrick Thomas at [email protected]