SPRINGDALE, Ark. – Tyson Foods Inc. is staying the course on its earnings guidance despite recent setbacks in financial markets driven by an avian influenza outbreak in Arkansas.
The company’s executives will present their case at the Consumer Analyst Group of Europe (CAGE) annual conference in London on March 18. Tyson “plans to tell analysts that its branded product portfolio, operational execution and synergy capture from the acquisition of Hillshire Brands give it the confidence to reiterate its fiscal 2015 guidance of $3.30 to $3.40 adjusted earnings per share,” the company said in a news release.
“We have advantaged brands in advantaged categories. We are on pace to meet or exceed more than $225 million in annual synergies this year,” Dennis Leatherby, executive vice president and CFO, said in preparation for the CAGE conference. “We have strong cash flows that give us options for the future. We have the size, scale and flexibility to serve customers and consumers in multiple channels, and we're creating value for our shareholders.”
“It is gratifying to be in control of our own destiny, and we're looking forward to telling our growth story to investors in Europe,” he added.
Leatherby and Andy Callahan, president, retail packaged brands, will be the speakers at the CAGE conference.
Shares in Tyson Foods tumbled $2.23 to $37.55 following confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock in Arkansas. A spokesman for the company confirmed that no birds grown for Tyson Foods have been diagnosed with the virus.
“There are always biosecurity measures in place on poultry farms and we've been even more diligent since AI has been in the US this winter,” Worth Sparkman, manager of public relations, told meatpoultry.com.
