DuPont Co., the No. 2 U.S. chemical company, on Tuesday reported lower-than-expected second-quarter profit due to lower U.S. volumes coupled with higher energy and raw material costs.
Profit declined marginally to $972 million, or $1.04 a share, from $975 million, or $1.04 a share, a year earlier, the Wilmington, Delaware-based company said.
Excluding items, earnings rose to $1.04 a share from $1.01. Analysts on average had forecast $1.06, according to Reuters Estimates.
Quarterly sales increased to $7.88 billion from $7.44 billion. Analysts were expecting $7.91 billion.
The company said volume declined 2 percent in the United States due to slower housing and auto markets, but rose 4 percent outside the country.
For the second half of 2007, DuPont said it expected to continue to benefit from growth outside the United States and higher local selling prices.
However, the company also anticipates continued weakness in U.S. housing, higher raw material costs and a higher base tax rate compared with last year.
DuPont affirmed its 2007 full-year earnings outlook of about $3.15 a share, excluding a charge of 6 cents for significant items.
Wall Street expects full-year profit of $3.18 a share.
Shares of DuPont, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, have risen 8.3 percent over the last three months, but underperformed an 11.3 percent gain in the Standard & Poor’s Chemicals Index.
