By Josh Beckerman
DuPont Co. said on Thursday that an unplanned outage at its
Chambers Works chemical plant in Deepwater, N.J., will "challenge
productivity and earnings" in its safety and protection segment in
the first quarter.
DuPont also reiterated its concerns about currency issues and
energy markets.
In a statement, the company discussed its presentation at a
conference Monday detailing its efforts in advanced materials.
"Today, DuPont is focused on a $50 billion portion of a $500
billion potential market," the company said.
Presentation material on DuPont's website identified expected
"growth drivers" such as the miniaturization of electronics,
high-speed data transfer and lightweight auto and aerospace
materials.
On Jan. 27, DuPont Co. gave a disappointing outlook for 2015,
warning its profit would take a significant hit from the
strengthening U.S. dollar and weakness in its agricultural-seed
business.
The company, which faces pressure from activist investorTrian
Fund Management LP to split itself up, also said it would reach its
goal to cut $1 billion in costs well ahead of schedule and outlined
plans to return more cash to shareholders through the spinoff of a
chemicals division.
DuPont recently rejected a request from Nelson Peltz's firm
Trian to use what is known as a universal ballot in a coming vote
on directors. Following months of back and forth over the company's
future, Trian launched a campaign in January seeking four seats on
DuPont's 13-person board.
A universal ballot would put both Trian's four nominees and
DuPont's full 13-member board on the same paper document sent to
shareholders, as opposed to the standard approach of each side
sending their own version.
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