DuPont Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2005 Earnings

GLOBAL - Expect earnings of $2.60 per share for 2006, say DuPont in their latest financial report.

25 January 2006

4 minute read

DuPont Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2005 Earnings - GLOBAL - Expect earnings of $2.60 per share for 2006, say DuPont in their latest financial report.

Highlights

The company reported fourth quarter earnings of $.16 per share, compared to fourth quarter 2004 earnings of $.28 per share.
Fourth quarter earnings before significant items were $.13 per share compared to $.37 per share in the fourth quarter 2004. The reduction in earnings is largely attributable to disruptions from hurricanes and other plant outages, higher energy and ingredient costs and lower crop protection product sales.
Fourth quarter raw material costs increased $350 million versus last year. Local price increases of 5 percent offset about 75 percent of this cost increase.
Total worldwide volumes declined 4 percent. Excluding the estimated impact of business interruptions from Gulf Coast hurricanes, volumes would have been essentially flat.
During the fourth quarter the company completed a $3 billion share buyback, reducing shares outstanding by 8 percent.
Full-year 2005 earnings were $2.07 per share versus $1.77 in 2004. Before significant items, earnings per share in 2005 totaled $2.34 compared to $2.38 in 2004.
The company expects 2006 earnings per share of about $2.60, an increase of 11 percent, compared to 2005 earnings per share before significant items.

Global Consolidated Net Income and Sales

Net income for the fourth quarter was $153 million, or $.16 per share, including a $.03 per share significant item benefit from lower than expected tax cost associated with the repatriation of cash under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. Fourth quarter 2004 net income was $278 million, or $.28 per share, including significant items totaling a net after-tax charge of $93 million, or $.09 per share. See Schedule B for a summary of significant items.

Current quarter net income reflects the impact of prolonged disruptions to power, logistics and to production and sales resulting from Gulf Coast Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, in addition to temporary unplanned production interruptions at three of the company's plants which are located in Brazil, The Netherlands and the United States. Fourth quarter net income also reflects lower sales of crop protection products, and higher costs. These negatives were partly offset by an income tax benefit recorded in the quarter, resulting from a lower full-year base income tax rate.

Consolidated net sales for the fourth quarter were $5.8 billion, down 3 percent versus the fourth quarter 2004, but were flat on a comparable business basis. Local selling prices were up 5 percent offsetting a 4 percent volume decline.

Hurricane-related production disruptions to U.S. plants affected sales in all regions. Excluding these production disruptions, worldwide volumes would have been flat and U.S. volumes up modestly, as shown in the table below. Volumes in the Asia Pacific region were negatively affected by the hurricane impact and lower sales of crop protection chemicals attributable to lower insect pressure in the growing season.