DuPont Trims Outlook on Agricultural Weakness -- 4th Update

By Jacob Bunge And Chelsey Dulaney 

DuPont Co. trimmed its earnings outlook for the year on weakness in agricultural business and exchange-rate fluctuations, a setback after the company repelled an activist attack this year focused partly on complaints about DuPont missing its financial targets.

DuPont on Tuesday said profit in its latest quarter fell 12%, as weak pesticide sales, reduced corn planting in Latin America, and tepid soybean volumes weighed on its agricultural business. The maker of Pioneer corn seeds and Kevlar fibers also continued to grapple with the U.S. dollar's strength, which reduced the value of overseas sales across all of DuPont's divisions.

"There's an industrywide challenge this year," DuPont Chief Executive Ellen Kullman said in an interview.

DuPont's move Tuesday to lower its profit guidance comes after activist investor Trian Fund Management LP failed in May to secure seats on DuPont's board. Following that battle, Trian predicted DuPont would miss profit targets it outlined earlier in the year. Trian has held on to its 24.6 million DuPont shares, representing about 2.7% of DuPont's stock, and said in June it would "closely monitor" DuPont's performance.

DuPont is now forecasting operating earnings of $3.10 a share, down 10 cents from the low end of its previously forecast range. The total excludes 80 cents from its former performance-chemicals division that it recently spun off. Earlier this year DuPont forecast profits between $4 and $4.20 a share, and in April said that earnings would likely come in at the low end of that range.

Ms. Kullman said that DuPont continues to engage with Trian, and that an early July meeting with Trian Chief Executive Nelson Peltz was constructive. The discussion, which followed Trian's loss in the proxy contest, focused on growth opportunities, improving DuPont's productivity, and how the company allocates capital, she said.

"Time will tell" whether Trian revives its push for change at DuPont, such as by nominating another director slate, Ms. Kullman said.

A Trian spokeswoman declined to comment on DuPont's results.

Shares of DuPont were about 0.9% lower in midday trading after hitting a two-year low earlier Tuesday. The stock is now down around 24% this year, and has declined about 25% since Trian lost the proxy contest in mid-May.

In January, DuPont increased cost-cut targets and said it would reach its goal of slashing $1 billion in costs by the end of 2015, ahead of schedule. In the latest quarter, DuPont said cost cuts added 10 cents to per-share operating earnings, and executives said Tuesday they were looking for more ways to reduce expenses.

For the quarter, which ended June 30, DuPont reported a profit of $940 million, or $1.03 a share, down from $1.07 billion, or $1.15 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, operating earnings ticked up to $1.18 a share from $1.17 a share a year ago.

DuPont's second-quarter sales fell 11% to $8.6 billion, and officials estimated that currency impacts brought down sales by 5% in the quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of $1.18 a share and net sales of $8.75 billion.

Agricultural sales, which represented about 37% of total sales for DuPont, fell 11% to $3.22 billion amid a 6% drop in volume and a 5% currency impact. Operating profit fell 7% to $778 million, propped up by cost cuts and price increases from new products.

DuPont earlier this month completed the spinoff of Chemours Co., which makes paint pigments and nonstick coatings for frying pans. That division posted $1.5 billion in revenue and $113 million in operating earnings in the latest quarter, both representing double-digit declines from the prior year.

As a result of the separation, DuPont said it now plans to purchase and retire $2 billion in stock by the end of the year.

Write to Jacob Bunge at [e-mail] and Chelsey Dulaney at [e-mail]