SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Strength in the pork and chicken businesses spurred a 4 percent increase in income for Tyson Foods, Inc. during the second quarter.

For the quarter ended March 31, the company had income of $166 million, equal to 44 cents per share on the common stock, which compared with income of $159 million, or 42 cents per share, during the same quarter of the previous year.

“Our multi-protein business again proved advantageous, producing solid earnings for the fiscal second quarter,” said Donnie Smith, president and chief executive officer. “We are pleased with the rate of improvement in our chicken business. The chicken, pork and prepared foods segments all were in or above their normalized operating margin ranges while beef essentially broke even despite extremely challenging market conditions.

“We’re positioned for another great year as we expect to gain momentum in our third and fourth quarters. We still think we have the potential for earnings per share of $2 for the year if we execute as planned.”

The chicken segment had an operating income of $145 million for the quarter, up 74 percent from $37 million during the same quarter of the previous year. The segment had sales of $2,911 million, up 6 percent from $2,739 million.

The beef segment suffered an operating loss of $1 million, which compared with an operating income of $94 million during the same quarter of the previous year. The segment had sales of $3,369 million, up 1 percent from $3,333 million.

The pork segment had an operating income of $115 million, down 21 percent from $146 million during the same quarter of the previous year. Sales for the segment were $1,372 million, down 1 percent from $1,384 million.

For the six months the company as a whole had income of $322 million, 86 cents per share, down 30 percent from $457 million, or $1.20 per share, during the same period of the previous year. Sales for the six months were $16,597 million, up 6 percent from $15,615 million.