Net income for the second quarter was $166 million, up from $156 million in the same quarter of 2011.

However, for the first six month of the financial year, income dipped from $450 million in 2011 to $322 million.

In the chicken sector, operating income was $145 million, or five per cent of sales.

However, in the beef sector, there was an operating loss of $1 million.

In the pork sector, there was an operating income $115 million, or 8.4 per cent of sales and in the prepared foods sector there as an operating income $44 million, or 5.5 per cent of sales.

Overall operating margin in the second quarter was 3.7 per cent.

"Our multi-protein business again proved advantageous, producing solid earnings for the fiscal second quarter," said Donnie Smith, Tyson's president and chief executive officer.

"We were pleased with the rate of improvement in our Chicken business. The Chicken, Pork and Prepared Foods segments all were in or above their normalised operating margin ranges, while Beef essentially broke even despite extremely challenging market conditions.

"We're positioned for another great year as we expect to gain momentum in our third and fourth quarters," Mr Smith said.

"We still think we have the potential for earnings per share of $2 for the year if we execute as planned."

In fiscal 2012, overall domestic protein (chicken, beef, pork and turkey) production is expected to decrease.

The company said that because exports are likely to remain strong, it has forecast total domestic availability of protein to be down by between two and three per cent compared to fiscal 2011, which should continue to support improved pricing.

In the chicken sector for fiscal 2012, Tyson expects industry production to decrease by approximately four per cent from fiscal 2011, which should allow for the continuation of improved market pricing conditions. Current futures prices indicate higher feed costs in fiscal 2012 compared to fiscal 2011.

"We expect to offset the increased feed costs with pricing and mix improvements as well as operational efficiencies expected to result in additional savings of $125 million in fiscal 2012. Our Chicken segment returned to its normalised operating margin range in the second quarter of fiscal 2012, and we expect results to remain strong for the remainder of the year," said Mr Smith.

"In Beef, we experienced a decrease of fed cattle supplies of approximately 5% in the first six months of fiscal 2012 as compared to fiscal 2011. However, we expect to see an increase in fed cattle in the second half of fiscal 2012, which would result in a total decrease of fed cattle supplies of two to three per cent for fiscal 2012 as compared to fiscal 2011.

"Although we generally expect adequate supplies in the regions we operate our plants, there may be periods of imbalance of fed cattle supply and demand.

"We anticipate beef exports will remain strong in fiscal 2012. While our Beef segment remained profitable for the first six months of fiscal 2012, we were challenged by volatile market conditions and reduced demand for beef products, which made it difficult to pass along increased input costs. The difficult margin conditions we experienced in the second quarter of fiscal 2012 continued into the early part of the third quarter, but we expect them to recover throughout the remainder of the of the second-half of the fiscal year due to improved cattle supplies and typical seasonal demand. For fiscal 2012, we believe our Beef segment will be profitable, returning to our normalized range in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012," Mr Smith added.

"In Pork, we expect hog supplies in fiscal 2012 to be up by one to two per cent compared to fiscal 2011 and to be adequate in the regions in which we operate. Additionally, we expect pork exports to remain strong in fiscal 2012. While we expect results should be above our normalized range for the fiscal year, we do not expect the remainder of fiscal 2012 to be at our first six-month levels."

“In Prepared Foods, we expect operational improvements and increased pricing to offset increased raw material costs. Because many of our sales contracts are formula based or shorter-term in nature, we are typically able to offset rising input costs through increased pricing. We expect results should remain within our normalized range for the balance of the fiscal year.

Sales for 2012 are expected to be approximately $34 billion mostly resulting from price increases related to decreases in domestic availability of protein and rising raw material costs,” said Mr Smith.

Capital expenditures for fiscal year 2012 is forecast to be approximately $800-$850 million.