DuPont Co.'s quarterly profit rose on higher sales of farm chemicals and seeds, the No. 2 U.S. chemicals maker said on Tuesday.
The Wilmington, Delaware, company posted net income of $668 million, or 66 cents per share, compared with $535 million, or 53 cents a share, a year earlier.
Before one-time charges, DuPont earned 96 cents a share in the latest quarter, beating analysts' average forecast of 95 cents as compiled by Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc.
The company said it expects a second-quarter charge of 17 cents to 19 cents per share from its cost-reduction program announced late last year. It also expects charges from the closing of its sale of textile business Invista. It cannot estimate those charges currently.
First-quarter revenue rose 15 percent to $8.1 billion.
Shares of DuPont closed at $44.99 on Monday. The shares fell 7 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 2 percent decline in the S&P chemicals index, of which DuPont is a member.
