SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- In a move that signals Tyson Foods Inc. believes its chicken segment is again profitable, the world's largest meat producer has named a new CEO to replace interim head Leland Tollett, who had been tapped in January to help weather an industry downturn.

Donnie Smith, Tyson's senior group vice president of poultry and prepared foods, will take over for Tollett immediately, according to a statement from the Springdale, Ark.-based company.

Tyson also announced Jim Lochner, senior group vice president of its Fresh Meats division, has been named the company's chief operating officer. Lochner, the most senior executive based in Dakota Dunes, will relocate to Tyson's headquarters in northwest Arkansas.

In January, Tollett returned to the company he led from 1991 to 1998 to see the chicken business through a slump involving record high prices for key ingredients like corn and weak restaurant demand that hurt prices it could charge. He was named interim CEO to replace Dick Bond, a longtime executive of IBP, which was acquired by Tyson in 2001.

Tollett, who had also been interim president since January, will assist the 50-year-old Smith during the transition period, though he said in a statement he expects to significantly cut back on the time he spends on company matters.

Smith has been with Tyson since 1980 and has worked in areas such as purchasing, food safety and logistics.

Lochner, 57, started his career with the former IBP in 1983 as director of research. In his first 14 years, he held several different officer positions in various quality control and technical services areas. He became executive vice president of IBP in 1997, responsible for all of IBP's beef and pork plants. In 2000, he was promoted to president and CFO of IBP.

After Tyson Foods acquired IBP in 2001, he was named group vice president of Tyson Fresh Meats. He was then named Tyson Foods' senior group vice president of margin optimization in 2005 before becoming senior group vice president of Fresh Meats in 2007.

Replacements for Lochner and Smith will be named in the next two weeks.