DuPont Co on Tuesday said first-quarter profit rose 45 percent, helped by strong sales of farm chemicals and plastics, but results lagged Wall Street expectations. DuPont, whose shares fell 2 percent in early trading, also raised its quarterly dividend and stood by its forecast for higher 2005 earnings, saying increased prices for seeds, chemicals and coatings continue to offset surging raw materials costs. The No 2 US chemicals company, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, said net income rose to $967 million, or 96 cents per share, from $668 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected $1.01 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Sales fell to $7.4 billion from $8.1 billion a year earlier. The year-ago figure included sales of $1.9 billion from divested textiles and interiors businesses. Excluding those divested businesses, sales rose 11 percent, with 5 percent coming from higher local selling prices, 2 percent from volume growth, 2 percent from currency translation, and 2 percent increase from consolidation.
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