WILMINGTON, Del., Oct. 24 (AP) — The E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, the chemical maker, said on Tuesday that it swung to a profit in the third quarter on higher sales and lower fixed costs, despite higher expenses for raw materials.
DuPont reported earnings of $485 million, or 52 cents a share, in contrast to a loss of $82 million, or 9 cents a share, for the third quarter of last year, when it took a $146 million pretax charge for hurricane-related items.
Excluding special items in both periods, earnings per share rose to 49 cents from 33 cents a year earlier. Revenue grew 7 percent, to $6.31 billion from $5.87 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 45 cents a share and revenue of $6.13 billion.
Stock in DuPont, which is based in Wilmington, Del., rose 55 cents, to $46 a share in trading yesterday.
