DuPont announced first quarter GAP earnings of $1.52 per share and operating earnings of $1.64 per share on April 25. Prior year GAAP and operating earnings were $1.39 per share and $1.26 per share, respectively.

First quarter sales were $7.7 billion, up 5% versus prior year on a 4% benefit from volume and a 1% benefit from local price.

Volume grew in almost all segments, led by Performance Materials, Electronics & Communications and Agriculture. Agriculture sales were positively impacted by the change in timing of seed deliveries, which benefitted first quarter sales by approximately $140 million. This timing change benefitted total company net sales by 2%.

“Our team delivered strong operational performance in the first quarter, growing operating EPS by 30%,” said Ed Breen, Chairman and CEO. “ The strength of our new product introductions and increased demand in key markets together resulted in top-line increases in almost every business. We also made significant progress on key milestones in the merger with Dow, including receipt of conditional approval from the European Commission and an agreement with FMC to divest certain crop protection assets and acquire substantially all of its Health & Nutrition segment. We continue to expect to close the merger in August of this year and quickly begin working on the 500-plus projects already identified to deliver the targeted $3 billion in cost synergies.”

Segment results
The following is a summary of business results for each of the company’s reportable segments comparing first quarter with the prior year, unless otherwise noted.

First Half 2017 Outlook
The company expects first half 2017 GAAP earnings per share of about $2.42, a decrease of about 5% from prior year. First half 2017 operating earnings per share are expected to be about $2.90, an increase of about 16% versus prior year primarily driven by sales growth. The increase in sales is due to the impact of the change in timing of seed deliveries, primarily related to the southern U.S route-to-market change in agriculture, and strength in global automotive markets. These benefits are anticipated to be partially offset by the expected reduction in planted corn acres in North America and higher product costs in Performance Materials and Agriculture.

The company’s first half 2017 GAAP earnings includes an expected net charge of about $0.32 per share for significant items primarily related to transaction costs associated with the planned merger with Dow. Prior year GAAP earnings included a net benefit of $0.20 per share from significant items, primarily due to a gain on the sale of an entity.

Source: DuPont