DuPont warns on 2000
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October 25, 2000: 8:17 a.m. ET
Meets lowered 3Q target but again cautions full-year profit will miss mark
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Chemical maker DuPont Co. hit lowered profit forecasts for the third quarter, but lowered guidance for the full year profit for the second time in two months Wednesday.
DuPont earned $537 million, or 51 cents a share, before one-time items, in line with First Call's forecast but down from the $625 million, or 59 cents a share from continuing operations in the year-earlier period.
But the Wilmington, Del.- based company said it now believes the best it can do for the full year to earn $2.85 a share, which would mean a 59 cent a share profit in the fourth quarter, compared with the $2.88 a share full year forecast, or 62 cent a share fourth-quarter estimate from analysts surveyed by First Call. And it said that the new forecast would be difficult to achieve should economic and currency factors turn more negative.
"In light of slowing global economies, we are cautious about the prospects for top-line growth in the fourth quarter," said " Chad Holliday, DuPont's chairman and chief executive. "In addition, we expect significantly lower fourth-quarter results from the pharmaceuticals segment as we phase out sales promotion programs."
The company issued a warning Sept. 7 at a time that 2000 earnings forecast stood at $3.01, with a third-quarter forecast at that time of 58 cents a share and a fourth-quarter estimate of 66 cents a share.
Including special items, DuPont's net income came in at $562 million, or 53 cents a share, compared with $7.5 billion, or $7.15 a share, when it posted a gain from sale of operations.
The company's third quarter revenue was $6.9 billion, up from $6.6 billion a year earlier.
Shares of DuPont (DD: Research, Estimates), a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, gained $2.44 to $43.13 Tuesday.
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DuPont
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