The company said severe winter weather conditions affected its quarterly earnings and sales results due to delays experienced by farmers in North America in their planting preparations.
du Pont financial results
During the quarter, E I du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) generated operating earnings of $1.58 per share, down from $1.56 per share in the same period a year ago. According to the company, the severe weather condition reduced its operating earnings by approximately $0.07 per share, which reflects increased operating costs and lost sales.
Its revenue declined by 3% to $10.1 billion year-over-year due to differences in timing and planted areas for Agriculture sales, negative currency impact and adverse weather conditions in North America.
The earnings and revenue of E I du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) missed the consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts at $1.59 earnings per share and $10.4 billion revenue.
Commenting on the financial results of the company, BGC Partners analyst Mark Gulley told Bloomberg, “It was 20 degrees yesterday in Minneapolis; you can’t plant corn when its 20 degrees. You’re going to get the rebound in sales in the second quarter because of the delayed planting season.”
du Pont reaffirms full-year outlook
For the full-year, E I du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) maintained its earnings outlook in the range of $4.20 to $4.45 per share.
In a statement, Dupont’s Chairperson and CEO Ellen Kullman said, “We achieved substantial earnings growth in most of our segments in the first quarter as we advanced our strategic and operational priorities. We delivered near record earnings per share despite the challenges of harsh weather and differences in year-on-year comparisons in our Agriculture Segment, and our key initiatives remain on track.”
In addition, Kullman said the management will continue to operate the business of E I du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD) with focused discipline and increasing productivity. According to her, the company is expected to achieve a steady growth in industrial production to continue to drive increases in demand for DuPont products globally. “We are reaffirming our outlook for operating earnings per share growth in 2014,” said Kullman.
