DuPont Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results

DuPont announced fourth-quarter 2016 GAAP earnings of $0.29 per share and operating earnings of $0.51 per share. Prior year GAAP and operating earnings were a loss of $0.26 and earnings of $0.27 per share, respectively. GAAP income from continuing operations before taxes was $353 million, including charges of $599 million related to an asset impairment charge and transaction costs offset by a $382 million non-operating pension/OPEB gain. Prior year GAAP loss from continuing operations before taxes was $421 million, including a $775 million charge for restructuring costs. Refer to Schedule B for details of significant items excluded from operating earnings per share.

For the full-year 2016, DuPont delivered GAAP earnings of $2.85 per share and operating earnings of $3.35 per share. Prior-year GAAP and operating earnings were $2.09 and $2.77 per share, respectively.

Expectations of 2017
"We expect the merger to close in the first half of 2017, pending regulatory approval. Therefore, only guidance for the first quarter of 2017 is being provided. The company expects first-quarter 2017 GAAP earnings to decrease about 18 percent from the prior year. The company’s first-quarter 2017 GAAP earnings include an expected charge of about $0.15 per share for transaction costs associated with the planned merger with Dow. Prior year GAAP earnings included a net benefit of $0.18 per share from significant items, primarily due to a gain on the sale of an entity."

First-quarter 2017 operating earnings are expected to increase about 8 percent versus prior year driven by benefits from cost savings and the impact of the change in timing for seed deliveries, primarily related to the southern U.S. route-to-market change in Agriculture. These benefits are anticipated to be partially offset by the expected reduction in planted corn acres in the U.S.