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USA:DuPont earnings drop in Q4 |
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2005-1-27
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Chemical giant DuPont reported lower fourth quarter earnings Tuesday on slightly lower sales.
But the company posted higher yearly profits as it began to see the positive effects of a $900 million restructuring program, and it forecast increased earnings for 2005.
DuPont, the maker of Teflon products and Corian counter tops, said it earned $278 million, or 28 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, down from $636 million, or 63 cents a share, a year earlier. Fourth-quarter sales fell to $6 billion from $6.5 billion a year earlier.
Excluding special items, fourth quarter earnings totaled $371 million, or 37 cents per share, an increase of 28 percent from the year before. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were forecasting a profit of 33 cents per share.
In trading Tuesday morning, DuPont shares rose $1.03, or 2.2 percent, to $47.04. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $39.88 to $49.50.
For the year, DuPont earned almost $1.8 billion, or $1.77 per share, up from $973 million, or 96 cents per share, in 2003. Earnings for the year before special items were $2.4 billion, or $2.38 a share, an increase of 43 percent from $1.7 billion, or $1.66 per share, in 2003. Analysts were forecasting yearly profits of $2.34 per share.
Net sales for the full year rose to $27.3 billion from $27 billion in 2003.
DuPont attributed the improvement in annual earnings to higher selling prices, volume growth, lower operating costs and favorable currency exchange rates, partly offset by higher energy and raw material costs.
Segment sales, excluding the company''s divested textiles and interiors unit, totaled $6.3 billion, up 14 percent compared to the previous year, with the performance materials and safety and protection units leading the way.
"The fourth quarter caps a year of improved operating performance by our company, delivering broad-based revenue growth, cost productivity and margin improvement," said Charles Holliday Jr., DuPont''s chairman and chief executive officer.
"We are executing our strategies to put our science to work, to go where the growth is, and to leverage the global capabilities of our company. I am very pleased with the positive momentum our employees are creating for DuPont, our customers and our shareholders."
DuPont said it expects 2005 earnings per share to be between $2.65 and $2.85, excluding special items, and sales from new products introduced in the past four years to account for one-third of all sales.
The company said it expects to pay higher prices for raw materials this year than it did this year, but that it will increase sales in emerging markets and continue to focus on productivity improvements. |
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