DuPont ended the year with higher earnings and CEO Ed Breen saying a merger with Dow has been pushed back.
In the fourth quarter, GAPP (Generally Accepted Accounted Principles) earnings were $0.29 per share with operating earnings of $0.51 per share.
That was above earnings forecasts, the Zacks investment service reported.
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 gain.
Prior-year GAAP loss from continuing operations before taxes was $421 million, including a $775 million charge for restructuring costs.
For 2016, DuPont delivered GAAP earnings of $2.85 per share and operating earnings of $3.35 per share. GAAP and operating earnings for 2015 were $2.09 and $2.77 per share, respectively.
Fourth-quarter sales were $5.2 billion, down 2 percent versus prior year as a one percent benefit from currency was offset by a two percent decline in local price and a one percent decline in volume.
Click on the full earnings report below for more details.
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Volume declined as growth in Performance Materials, Electronics & Communications and Industrial Biosciences was more than offset by declines in Agriculture, due to timing of fourth-quarter seed sales primarily due to the southern U.S. route-to-market change.
Excluding the timing change, sales would have increased 2 percent. Full-year sales totaled $24.6 billion, down 2 percent versus prior year due to a 1-percent negative impact from currency and a 1 percent decline in local price.
Volume was flat as growth in Performance Materials, Nutrition & Health and Industrial Biosciences was offset by declines in the other segments. Excluding the change in timing of fourth-quarter seed sales in Agriculture, sales decreased 1 percent.
Free cash flow improvement of $1.6 billion for the year reflected higher earnings, lower capital expenditures, lower tax payments, working capital improvements, and the absence of Chemours cash outflows.
“2016 was an important year for DuPont as we exceeded our expectations for earnings, cost savings, operating margin expansion and free cash flow improvement,” said Ed Breen, CEO of DuPont. “We made excellent progress on our strategic priorities in 2016 to increase shareholder value, and we will build on this groundwork as we move into 2017. We look forward to closing the merger with Dow and are continuing to have constructive discussions with regulators in key jurisdictions. We now expect the merger to close in the first half of 2017, pending regulatory approval.”
The deal is now before regulators in Europe. The merger had been targeted for the first quarter, with the combined companies splitting off into three publicly traded corporations.
Click on link below for slide presentation on earnings:
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