Citing slower sales in solar power and titanium dioxide, DuPont reported lower earnings in the third quarter. The company also announced additional cost-cutting efforts, according to CEO Ellen Kullman. Shares of DuPont dropped 4.5 percent on Tuesday, contributing to an already bad day on Wall Street.
The company launched a restructuring plan that aims to deliver pre-tax cost savings of about $450 million, including $300 million in 2013 by eliminating corporate costs supporting Performance Coatings and taking additional cost-cutting actions to improve competitiveness. Click on the highlighted link for the full earnings release. 3Q12_earnings
The restructuring plan includes eliminating about 1,500 positions globally in the next 12-18 months.
The coatings business, which has a customer base in the automotive and body shop businesse, was sold to Carlyle Group, an investment firm.
The solar business has been hit by price declines and uncertainties over incentives for installing equipment.
The earnings statement came after a string of good reports from the Delaware-based company during Kullman’s time as CEO.