DuPont Expects Q1 EPS Down

(RTTNews) - Chemical giant EI DuPont De Nemours & Co. (DD) or DuPont said it expects first-quarter 2017 GAAP earnings per share to decrease about 18 percent versus prior year.

The company's first-quarter 2017 GAAP earnings include an expected charge of about $0.15 per share for transaction costs associated with the planned merger with Dow. Prior year GAAP earnings included a net benefit of $0.18 per share from significant items, primarily due to a gain on the sale of an entity.

"... We look forward to closing the merger with Dow and are continuing to have constructive discussions with regulators in key jurisdictions. We now expect the merger to close in the first half of 2017, pending regulatory approval,"said Ed Breen, chairman and CEO of DuPont.

First-quarter 2017 operating earnings are expected to increase about 8 percent versus prior year driven by benefits from cost savings and the impact of the change in timing for seed deliveries, primarily related to the southern U.S. route-to-market change in Agriculture. These benefits are anticipated to be partially offset by the expected reduction in planted corn acres in the U.S.