(Reuters) – DuPont De Nemours said on Wednesday that it expects to report a fourth-quarter loss compared to a year-ago profit, sending its shares down 12% before the bell.
The multi-industrial chemical company expects to report a loss from continuing operations in between 220 million and $370 million, compared to a reported profit of $105 million last year.
DuPont and its peers have been hit by destocking, which follows excess inventory built up during the COVID-19 pandemic and weaknesses in key markets such as China and Europe.
The Wilmington, Delaware-based company added it will also take a non-cash goodwill impairment charge between $750 million and $850 million during the fourth quarter at a unit of its water and protection segment due to prevalent market conditions.
DuPont expects destocking to continue to weigh on sales into the first quarter of 2024.
The company sees sales in the first quarter to be about $2.8 billion compared to analysts’ average estimate of $3.04 billion according to LSEG estimates.
“As we finished 2023, we saw additional channel inventory destocking within our industrial businesses as well as continued weak demand in China. We are seeing similar trends continue and expect sequential sales and earnings to decline in the first quarter of 2024,” said CEO Ed Breen in a statement.
Rival Dow’s shares also fell 2.2% in premarket trade.
(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
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