DuPont's net drops 70% on flat revenue,costs : Report

By Saabira Chaudhuri

DuPont Co.'s  fourth-quarter earnings sank 70% as the diversified U.S. manufacturer recorded flat sales, while higher costs translated into narrower margins
For 2013, DuPont expects adjusted per-share earnings between $3.85 and $4.05 on revenue of about $36 billion
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had recently expected per-share earnings of $3.84 on revenue of $36 billion
DuPont's results have suffered of late from lower volume and currency headwinds, although sales in its key agricultural segment have seen recent improvements
Last year, results were hit by weaker-than-expected demand in the titanium-dioxide and photovoltaic markets
In October, DuPont slashed its view for 2012 and said it had begun a restructuring plan to cut costs of about $300 million to $450 million to $300 million in 2013
At the time, DuPont said it would eliminate about 1,500 positions globally in the next 12-18 months
Chief Executive Ellen Kullman noted that "weakness in markets served by performance chemicals and electronics and communications provided significant challenges in 2012," but added that the company has adjusted its plans to "meet the changing market environment and grow our businesses in a slow-growth world economy."
For the fourth quarter, DuPont reported income of $111 million, or 12 cents a share, versus $373 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier
DuPont recorded $66 million in restructuring charges and $135 million in customer-claims charges, versus $17 million and $100 million in the year-ago quarter
Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings from continuing operations were 11 cents, compared with 26 cents
Total sales were roughly flat at $7.33 billion
DuPont noted that 3% higher volume was offset by a 2% negative currency impact and a 1% reduction from portfolio changes
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters estimated a profit of seven cents a share on revenue of $7.26 billion
The company's performance-materials segment posted a 5.2% fall in sales, while performance-chemicals sales were down 15%
Sales in the agricultural segment, however, rose 18%
Gross margin narrowed to 18.3% from 19.3%
Total costs and expenses climbed 2.8%.
In August, DuPont agreed to sell its slow-growing performance-coatings unit to U.S. private-equity firm Carlyle Group L.P. (CG) for $4.9 billion in cash, reducing its European exposure The company has signaled it isn't actively looking to sell its performance-materials unit, which specializes in packaging products and supplies for the auto sector and has the next-slowest sales growth after the performance-coatings unit