The biggest U.S. chemicals producer by market value said operating
earnings rose 17 percent to $497 million, helping to offset weakness
in its farm products unit, which accounts for about a fifth of
consolidated net sales.
DuPont said it expected "sluggish growth in the global economy,
along with continuing headwinds in agriculture and from currency" in
the fourth quarter ending December.
The company forecast a 20 percent rise in fourth-quarter operating
earnings from 59 cents per share a year earlier. That works out to
about 71 cents, compared with the average analyst estimate of 70
cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Weak corn prices have been weighing on DuPont's agriculture
business. Farmers have also been cutting back on fertilizer use due
to a delayed harvest and weak crop prices.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2014/Oct/28/images/ads/current/napa_bch1-3108.png)
A record corn harvest depressed prices in 2013, prompting farmers in
the United States to plant more soybean this year.
DuPont, which makes Pioneer genetically modified corn and soybean,
is more exposed to corn. Corn seeds account for nearly half of its
seed sales, while soybean makes up only 14 percent.
The agriculture unit recorded a 4 percent fall in sales in the three
months ended September, the third straight quarterly decline.
On an adjusted basis, DuPont reported earnings of 54 cents per
share, just above the average analyst estimate of 53 cents.
Net sales fell by 3 percent to $7.51 billion due to portfolio
changes, the company said. Analysts on average had estimated $7.95
billion.
DuPont, founded in 1802 to make gunpowder, is now the world's
second-largest seed producer after Monsanto Co, thanks to a
transformation that began in 2009.
DuPont has narrowed its focus to energy and specialty materials
besides agriculture and is spinning off its performance chemicals
business. The unit makes materials such as Teflon and represents
nearly 22 percent of consolidated net sales.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/ads/current/demay_inv-lda081412.png)
"Our increase in margins in a slow growth environment reflects the
momentum we are building as we execute our plan ...," Chief
Executive Ellen Kullman said in a statement.
DuPont, which has about 58,000 employees in more than 90 countries,
is cutting its global workforce in the "low single digits" in
percentage terms. The company plans to cut $1 billion in annual
costs by 2019.The company is under pressure from activist investor
Nelson Peltz to separate its agriculture, nutrition and health, and
industrial biosciences divisions from the more volatile, but strong
cash flow-generating materials businesses.
DuPont has rebuffed Peltz's demands, citing cost and research and
development benefits from keeping all of its units under one roof.
Up to Monday's close of $67.88, DuPont's shares had risen 4.5
percent this year. The S&P 500 Diversified Chemicals index had
inched up 1.4 percent.
(Reporting by Kanika Sikka and Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore; Editing
by Sriraj Kalluvila)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2014/Oct/28/images/ads/current/Symphony_lda_091814.png) |