DuPont Q1 Profit Falls, Sees FY15 EPS At The Low End Of Outlook

(RTTNews) - Chemicals giant EI DuPont De Nemours & Co. (DD) or DuPont Co. Tuesday said first-quarter attributable net income dropped to $1.03 billion, or $1.13 per share, from $1.44 billion, or $1.54 per share, in the prior year.

Including a $0.25 per share negative currency impact, operating earnings were $1.34 per share, compared to $1.58 per share in the prior year. On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.31 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales fell to $9.172 billion from $10.128 billion in the prior year. Analysts expected revenues of $9.41 billion.

The company attributed the sales drop to a 6 percent impact from currency, portfolio changes of 2 percent and expected near-term industry-wide challenges in Agriculture and Performance Chemicals.

The board of directors also approved a second quarter dividend of 49 cents per share, a 4 percent increase from last quarter. This is the fourth increase since the beginning of 2012. The dividend is payable on June 12, to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 15.

Looking ahead, the company now estimates around $0.80 per share negative currency impact in 2015, up from the $0.60 per share estimated on January 23. The company also anticipates that the operational redesign will deliver savings of $0.40 per share in 2015.

Thus, the company now expects to be at the low end of its previously communicated outlook range of $4.00-$4.20 operating earnings per share for 2015, including the full year outlook for the Performance Chemicals segment. Analysts look for earnings of $4.05 per share for the year.