Business News
DuPont 2Q Highlights, Net Income & Sales
Tuesday 21. July 2009 - Fixed cost reduction and productivity actions benefited second quarter pre-tax earnings by about $335 million, bringing year-to-date cost reduction to about $600 million -- more than halfway toward achieving the full year goal of $1 billion.
Raw material, energy and freight costs adjusted for currency and volume were 5% lower versus 2008, providing about $225 million benefit in the quarter. Results were in-line with company expectations and supported an outlook of about 4% to 6% lower variable costs for the full year.
Agriculture & Nutrition segments second quarter earnings increased 15% to a record $580 million, driven by a 21% increase in seed sales, reflecting price increases and North America share gains.
Combined sales volumes of Coatings & Color Technologies, Electronic & Communication Technologies, Performance Materials and Safety & Protection segments were 25% below second quarter 2008, but showed solid increases from the first quarter 2009 beyond the normal seasonal run-up.
Net income attributable to DuPont for the second quarter 2009 was $417 million versus $1,078 million in the prior year. The decline in net income principally reflects significantly lower sales volume, current quarter restructuring charges and adverse currency impact.
Consolidated net sales in the second quarter of $6.9 billion were 22% lower than prior year, principally reflecting 19% lower volume and a net 1% reduction due to portfolio changes. Local prices were 3% higher, largely driven by higher seed prices, but were more than offset by a 5% negative impact from currency exchange rates. Lower sales volume reflects the recessionary impact across global markets served by DuPont.