October 21, 2009

DuPont saw third quarter profits increased to US$414 million from US$372 million the same quarter last year despite a 20-percent drop in sales.

The company attributed the profit gains to cost-cutting, which boosted pre-tax earnings by about US$300 million, and a 12-percent drop in raw materials costs.

The company's agriculture and nutrition unit reported a quarterly loss of US$113 million compared to a loss of US$21 million last year. Agricultural sales were down five percent, reflecting unfavourable currency impacts.

The unit also reported US$6.9 billion sales for the first nine months of this fiscal year, representing the largest sales segment of DuPont's total sales of US$19.8 billion.

The unit is also the largest profit contributors for the nine months ended September 30, generating US$1.3 billion of DuPont's US$2.5 billion in profits before taxes and interest.