SPRINGDALE, ARK. — Boosted by improved results in the poultry division, income for Tyson Foods, Inc. rose during the third quarter.

For the quarter ended June 27, the company had income of $134 million, equal to 35c per share on the common stock, which compared with income of $9 million, or 3c per share, during the same quarter of the previous year.

Sales for the quarter were $6,662 million, down 3% from $6,849 million during the same quarter of the previous year.

"Our earnings for the third quarter reflect a solid performance by all of our operating segments," said Leland Tollett, interim president and chief executive officer. "In the midst of a slow economy and a challenging operating environment, we stayed focused and worked as a team to produce results within historical normalized ranges for each segment. I am encouraged by our progress in improving operational efficiencies in the chicken segment, although we still have work to do. Our beef, pork and prepared foods segments continued to perform well. We also have been disciplined in managing working capital and have reduced inventory by a substantial amount in the second and third quarters."

The chicken segment had an operating income of $143 million in the quarter compared with an operating loss of $30 million during the same quarter of the previous year. The segment had sales of $2,417 million during the quarter, up 7% from $2,257 million during the same quarter of the previous year.

The beef segment had an operating income of $66 million during the quarter, up significantly from $9 million during the same quarter of the previous year. The segment had sales of $2,733 million, down 8% from $2,982 million during the same quarter of the previous year.

The pork segment had an income of $28 million, down 51% from $57 million during the same quarter of the previous year. The segment had sales of $839 million, down 9% from $927 million during the same quarter of the previous year.

Tyson as a whole suffered a loss of $82 million during the nine months ended June 27, which compared with net income of $38 million during the same period of the previous year. The company had sales of $19,490 million during the nine months, down 1% from $19,661 million during the same period of the previous year.