Seaboard Corp. reports improved Q3 pork segment performance, declining turkey segment income

USA – Seaboard Corporation, a diverse multinational agribusiness and transportation conglomerate, has released its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024, reporting US$12 million in operating income in its Pork segment. 

This is a significant recovery from the us$40 million loss the segment saw during the same period in 2023. 

For the first nine months of the year, the Pork segment achieved an operating income of US$9 million, contrasting sharply with a US$325 million loss during the same period in 2023.

In its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Seaboard Corp. posted total net sales of US$2.22 billion for the third quarter, a 7% reduction from the US$2.39 billion in net sales during Q3 2023.

The Pork segment’s net sales reached US$493 million in Q3, which is a modest 2% increase from the US$483 million in the same quarter of the previous year. 

Over the first nine months of 2024, the segment’s net sales amounted to US$1.53 billion, up from US$1.37 billion in the equivalent period of 2023.

Seaboard’s Turkey segment, which includes its Butterball LLC investment, reported a net income of US$21 million for the nine months ending in September 2024, down from US$61 million a year earlier. 

According to the company, this decline resulted from lower sales volumes, with the Turkey segment’s sales totaling US$50 million for the third quarter and US$139 million over nine months, attributed to weaker pricing. 

Seaboard noted that reduced production costs partially counteracted the income decline. Net sales for the Turkey segment were US$484 million in the third quarter, down from US$534 million in the same period in 2023.

To date, Seaboard has invested US$373 million in property, plant, and equipment across several projects. 

These investments included biogas recovery initiatives in the Pork segment, instalment payments for vessels under construction within the Marine segment, and other infrastructure projects.

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