DUPONT Co, the third-biggest United States chemical maker, said third-quarter profit rose 8.5 percent as Latin American demand for corn and soybean seeds boosted sales outside the US. The company increased its 2007 profit forecast.
Net income rose to US$526 million, or 56 cents a share, from US$485 million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier, Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont said yesterday in a statement. Profit excluding a litigation reserve was 59 cents, topping the 54-cent average estimate of 10 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.
DuPont, led by Chief Executive Officer Charles O. Holliday Jr, boosted sales 5.8 percent to US$6.68 billion. A weaker US dollar and rising demand drove revenue in Latin America and Canada 22 percent higher and fueled a nine percent gain in Europe. The loss in the agriculture unit narrowed to US$96 million from US$154 million as revenue jumped 21 percent on seed sales in Brazil and Argentina.
"Agriculture and currency are the main drivers in the quarter," Hassan Ahmed, an analyst at New York-based HSBC Securities USA Inc, said via telephone before the earnings announcement.