DuPont Profit Beats as Costs Decline
July 26 2016 - 7:20AM
Dow Jones News
Chemical giant DuPont Co., in the middle of its tie-up with
rival Dow Chemical Co., said profit rose 8.4% in the latest period,
helped by solid results in its agriculture and nutrition divisions
amid lower costs.
The results topped Wall Street expectations.
DuPont's agriculture sales, its largest segment, reflected 3%
volume growth, driven by higher corn seed and insecticide sales.
Operating earnings rose 30% to $130 million in the nutrition
division, helped by lower costs and broad volume growth led by
probiotics and specialty proteins.
DuPont said operating costs fell 12% in the period.
DuPont and Dow last week said their shareholders approved the
merger plans. The merged company, which would be called DowDuPont,
will serve as a vehicle for reducing costs before breaking up 18 to
24 months after the merger closes. The new separate companies, each
to be publicly traded, would focus on agriculture, material
sciences and specialty products in nutrition and electronics.
Ed Breen, DuPont's chief executive, said the company expects the
deal to close later the year.
For the second quarter, DuPont earned $1.02 billion, or $1.16 a
share, compared with $940 million, or $1.03 a share, a year ago.
DuPont estimated that foreign-exchange shifts lowered its per-share
earnings by a nickel in the quarter.
Excluding certain items, the company earned $1.24 a share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast operating income
of $1.10 a share.
DuPont's sales in the quarter edged down 0.8% to $7.06 billion.
The company said volume growth of 2% was more than offset by
pressure from local prices and currency headwinds, which it said
shaved 3% off the top line. Analysts projected $7.01 billion in
sales.
The company boosted the low end of its outlook for per-share
earnings this year to a range of $3.15 to $3.20 on an adjusted
basis, compared to a prior range of $3.05 to $3.20.
Shares, which have risen 20% in the past three months, were
unchanged premarket.
Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 26, 2016 07:05 ET (11:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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