Tyson CEO leaves job, effective immediately
Dick Bond will step down as CEO of the number one meat company, and former CEO Leland Tollett will take over temporarily.
CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Tyson Foods IncChief Executive Dick Bond said Monday he was leaving the world's largest meat company, effective immediately, which sent the company's shares lower.
Bond's departure surprised analysts, who said the company appeared well suited to withstand the current pressures on the meat industry.
"The timing was a surprise, though we expected Mr. Bond to retire at some point this year, we did not think his departure would be so sudden," Ken Goldman, JPMorgan food industry analyst, said in a note to clients.
In 2008, Tyson and other meat companies were hurt, first by high feed prices and later by slowing economies here and overseas, which hurt meat sales.
Meat industry conditions appeared to be improving with feed costs down from the highs in early 2008 and producers cutting production, which should lift meat prices in 2009.
"That is surprising. When there is that kind of abrupt change, that tells me that maybe something else is going on," said John Urbanchuk, food economist at the consulting firm LECG.
Leland Tollett, 71, who was chairman and CEO from 1995 to 1998, will return as president and CEO on an interim basis until a successor is chosen, the company said.
Tyson shares were down 94 cents, or 10%, at $8.41 in midday New York Stock Exchange trading and have tumbled from a 52-week high of $19.50.
"After seven years of helping lead or leading the world's largest meat company, I have decided it is in both my best interest personally, and the best interest of the company for me to move on and pursue other interests," the 61-year-old Bond said in a statement.
Tyson's weak results for the fourth quarter that ended in September and an expected loss during for the quarter that ended in December, may have encouraged Bond's departure, said Ann Gilpin, an analyst at Morningstar.
"I think the board was not pleased with the management and I think they also were probably a little spooked about what happened with Pilgrim's Pride," Gilpin said. "I don't think this choice was unilaterally made by Dick Bond."
Pilgrim's Pride Corp (PGPDQ), the largest U.S. chicken producer, filed for bankruptcy protection in early December.
Analysts have expressed disappointment with Tyson (TSN, Fortune 500) for not cutting chicken production, which they believed was needed to increase prices and improve the company's results.
Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson is the leading U.S. beef producer and No. 2 producer of chicken and pork.
JPMorgan's Goldman saw Bond's departure as positive, claiming he may have been disinterested in running the company and that a new CEO may cut chicken production, "something the Street has clamored for."
Other U.S. chicken producers have been reducing production and the U.S. Agriculture Department forecasts 2009 chicken production will be down 1.3% from 2008. 
