The DuPont Co. says strong demand for agricultural products in Latin America offset weak pricing for a key industrial pigment in contributing to an increase in third-quarter earnings.
The Wilmington chemical company reported net income of $285 million, or 30 cents per share Tuesday, on revenue of $7.8 billion. Removing one-time pension and tax costs, earnings were 45 cents per share, easily topping the 41 cents projected on Wall Street, according to a FactSet poll.
For the same period last year, DuPont reported net income of about $5 million, and break even on a per-share basis.
The latest quarter saw sales increase 5 percent, and volume was up 9 percent, but DuPont said Tuesday that pricing for titanium dioxide, a widely used whitening pigment, remains weak.
