DuPont cuts 1,500 jobs on eco woes

DuPont reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday and said it would cut 1,500 jobs as part of a cost-cutting program designed to offset falling sales around the world.

The move by DuPont, historically one of the stronger members of chemical sector and the Dow Jones industrial average, highlights just how anxious corporate America is about slipping demand and the lay offs this is causing.

DuPont's sales fell around the globe, most sharply in Asia and Europe. High prices for titanium dioxide paint pigment and solar panel parts eroded demand for those key products.

For the third quarter, the company posted net income of $10 million, or a penny per share, compared with $452 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 44 cents per share. By that measure, analysts on average expected 46 cents , according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue fell 9 percent to $7.4 billion. Analysts expected $8.15 billion.

The company plans to lay off 1,500 workers in the next 12 to 18 months as part of a restructuring plan it hopes will save about $450 million.

DuPont expects to earn $3.25 to $3.30 per share this year, below the $3.93 that Wall Street expects.

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