Tyson Foods 2006 Annual Report Download - page 3

Ty s on Foods, Inc. 2006 Annual Report1
In my letter to you last year, I said market conditions in
2006 might be challenging. It turned out to be one of
the toughest years we’ve ever had at Tyson Foods, Inc.
But the Tyson Team stayed strong, and we made it
through. The difficulties we experienced from a variety
of factors are reflected in our financial results. Diluted
loss per share was $0.58 compared to diluted earnings
per share of $1.04 in 2005. Sales were $25.6 billion in
2006 compared to $26.0 billion in 2005. What the
numbers don’t show, however, is the groundwork we
laid for the future. As a result, I’ve never been more
confident in the Company’s future.
This tough year forced us to reexamine every aspect
of our business. We cut overhead costs and became
more efficient. We made tough choices regarding our
manufacturing facilities. We took several other steps
as well to become more agile in the face of external
volatility. While we made many adjustments in the
short term, we continued investing in the long term
for an even stronger Company.
For example, accelerating innovation is the key to
Tyson’s long-term future. Our new Discovery Center,
opening in January 2007, will be the hub of product
innovation and consumer insights. It will help us
better understand what consumers want so we can
develop products, packaging and brands to better
meet their needs and solve their mealtime problems.
To drive innovation further, we’ve added three key
people to the talented management team we’ve
always had at Tyson. Wade Miquelon is our new chief
financial officer,and he has extensive experience in the
consumer products industry and international finance
after 16 years with Procter & Gamble. Robert DeMartini,
group vice president of consumer products, has
20 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods
industry and most recently headed Gillette’s $2.2 billion
grooming division. Richard Greubel is our new group
vice president of international and spent 22 years at
Monsanto, with his last 11 years as head of several
international operations. We are excited to have
people of their caliber. Their drive and enthusiasm
are contagious, and with the rest of the great Tyson
Team, we are better positioned to achieve our goals.
We continued investing for the long term in our
operations as well. We added our third case-ready
beef and pork plant in Sherman, Texas. We also
created the most modern, efficient production floor
in the industry at our Dakota City, Nebraska, beef
plant. These are just two examples of how we are
readying our production facilities for the future.
I’m proud of the changes we’ve made at Tyson Foods,
but I’m also proud of things wedidn’t change. We
remain committed to our Core Values. We remain
committed to diversity. We remain committed
to serving as a steward of the animals, land and
environment entrusted to us. We remain committed
to feeding the world trusted food products. We remain
committed to our core strategies of increasing our
value-added product mix, expanding internationally
and driving operational efficiencies.
There’s no denying it was a disappointing year finan-
cially, but I hope these numbers don’t overshadow
Tyson Foods’ great potential. I'll end this letter where
I began: I’ve never been more confident in our future.
I have great trust in Tyson’s 107,000 Team Members,
and I look forward to supporting them as we build a
strong, profitable Tyson Foods in 2007 and beyond.
John Tyson
Chairman
To Our Shareholders
JOHN TYSON
Chairman