Adjusted operating income rose by 53 per cent to $553 million and adjusted EPS was up by 25 per cent to $0.75 compared to $0.60 in second quarter of previous year.

Overall adjusted operating margin was 5.5 per cent.

The chicken segment saw operating margins of 11.7 and the prepared foods segment has adjusted operating margins of 8.4 per cent.

The pork segment had operating margins of 8.2 per cent.

"This was another great quarter and better than we initially expected," said Donnie Smith, president and chief executive officer of Tyson Foods.

"Our fiscal second quarter is seasonally challenging, but we came in above our projections due to strong performances by our Prepared Foods and Chicken segments.

"Our branded, value-added portfolio of complementary products has allowed us to achieve the balance needed to produce consistent, sustainable growth.

“We have structured our company to capitalise on the tailwinds and to manage through the headwinds in the parts of our business that are subject to commodity markets.

“By producing innovative, protein-centric foods, we are uniquely positioned to meet consumers' needs for all meal occasions and all day parts, at home and away from home.

"The acquisition of Hillshire Brands has played an important role in Tyson Foods'transformation, and we are very pleased with the progress of the integration and synergy capture, achieving $77 million in synergies in the second quarter.

“Because we are ahead of pace in reaching our stated target of more than $225 million in fiscal 2015, we are raising our synergy target to more than $250 million for this year, $400 million in 2016 and $600 million in annual synergies by the end of fiscal 2017. In addition, we are reiterating our annual guidance of $3.30-3.40 adjusted earnings per share."