DD DuPont de Nemours Inc

By Lisa Beilfuss 

DuPont Co., which last month struck a deal to merge with Dow Chemical Co., swung to a loss in its latest quarter as sales fell across all segments and were particularly hard-hit abroad due to the strong U.S. dollar.

The Wilmington, Del.-based company, which makes products ranging from pesticides to dietary fibers to building materials, has said it would reshape its business ahead of the proposed tie-up with Dow through measures including job cuts and $700 million in cost reductions this year.

On Tuesday, DuPont said it is on pace to reduce operating costs by about $1 billion on a run-rate basis by the end of year. "Our merger process is on track," said Chief Executive Edward Breen, who will remain CEO of the merged company, adding that planning has begun to create three independent businesses in agriculture, material science and specialty products.

In addition to the strong dollar, which makes its products more expensive outside of the U.S., DuPont pointed to difficult global economic conditions in agriculture and slower growth in emerging markets for the fourth quarter and said those challenges would continue.

For the year, the company expects to earn $2.95 to $3.10 a share, including a higher-than-anticipated 64 cents per share in cost savings. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have predicted $1.31 in adjusted per-share profit this year.

In the fourth quarter, sales in its agriculture segment--DuPont's largest--fell 11% from a year earlier as currency effects offset gains from an improved price and product mix. Revenue from the company's other businesses declined amid a mix of foreign exchange hits, lower volume and less favorable pricing.

Overall for the quarter, DuPont reported a loss of $253 million, or 29 cents a share, down from a profit of $683 million, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, per-share earnings fell to 27 cents from 57 cents.

Sales slid 9.4% to $5.3 billion. Stripping out the impact of adverse exchange rates, sales fell 1%, the company said. Analysts projected 26 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $5.53 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares in the company, down 12% over the past three months through Monday's close, were inactive premarket.

Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2016 07:50 ET (12:50 GMT)

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