2009/10/7 AP
DuPont sees return to '08 profit levels in '12
DuPont does not expect to
return to its 2008 profit level until 2012 at the earliest.
According to a government filing Wednesday, the chemical giant
states it would take two-and-a-half to three years to bounce back
to 2008 earnings. In a Tuesday investor meeting, DuPont Executive
Vice President Mark Vergnano said this expectation includes the
loss of income from the company's pharmaceutical segment.
In 2008, the Wilmington,
Del.-based company earned $2.20 per share. Looking ahead to 2009,
analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $1.82 per
share.
Shares of the company fell 18 cents to $31.71 in afternoon
trading.
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DuPont earned $2.78 a
share in 2008, excluding some items, and the average estimate of
analysts in a Bloomberg survey was for profit of $2.46 a share in
2011 and $2.79 in 2012.
DuPont is developing new products, such as fuels made from sugar
and corn cobs, to help offset the loss of
royalties from Cozaar and Hyzaar, marketed by Merck & Co.
The hypertension drugs lost patent protection in the European
Union in September and will do so in the U.S. in April.
The drugs generated $1.03 billion of operating income last year,
28 percent of DuPont's total.
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DuPont は2001年、同社は世界の事業の構造改革を実施した。
4月に競争力を失ってきたポリエステルおよびナイロン工場の閉鎖を発表、3カ月後にはポリエステル事業の一部を売却した。
同年6月、DuPont Pharmaceuticals をBristol-Myers Squibbに売却するという決断をした。医薬品事業に必要な巨額投資は、同社にとっても、あまりにリスキーだったからである。
売却額は78億ドルで、税引き後利益は38億6,600万ドルである。
但し、条件として、Cozaar と Hyzaar の権利は DuPont が維持し、Merckにライセンスした。
現在の「医薬部門」の利益はこの特許料である。