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DuPont de Nemours (NYSE:DD) rose 2.1% in premarket trading Tuesday after the chemical maker raised its dividend and approved more stock buybacks. The announcement followed an earlier warning about slower sales amid weakness in China.
In its fourth-quarter report, DuPont (DD) indicated it had swung to a loss of $22 million, or $0.05 a share, from a profit of $4.23 billion, or $8.83 a share, a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings of $0.87 a share beat the consensus estimate of $0.84 a share.
Sales fell 7% from a year earlier to $2.9 billion in the three-month period ended in December, in line with the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Organic sales which don’t include the effects of mergers fell by 10%, and were partly offset by a 3% gain from the acquisition of Spectrum Plastics Group.
Its board approved a $1 billion share repurchase program authorization, $500 million of which will be accelerated. The company also raised its dividend by 6% to $0.38 a share.
“In the face of inventory destocking that impacted many of our end-markets in 2023 and continued economic softness in China, our teams remained focused on sound operational execution and driving productivity and cost discipline,” Ed Breen, DuPont’s (DD) executive chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
The company (DD) forecast sales of about $2.8 billion for the first quarter of 2024, in line with the consensus estimate of $2.82 billion. It also estimated full-year sales of $11.9 billion to $12.3 billion, compared with Wall Street’s average estimate of $12.14 billion.
DuPont (DD) forecast adjusted earnings of $0.63 to $0.65 a share for the first quarter, compared with the consensus of $0.64 a share. It also estimated adjusted earnings of $3.25 to $3.65 for the year, compared with the consensus of $3.36 a share.