DuPont Leader Highlights Strategy, Progress and Plans to Accelerate Growth in Advanced Materials and Discusses Near-Term Outlook

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Mar 05, 2015, 04:29 ET

NEW YORK, March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- DuPont (NYSE: DD) announced that at the J.P. Morgan Aviation, Transportation and Industrials Conference held today in New York, DuPont Executive Vice President Matthew L. Trerotola discussed strategy, progress and plans to accelerate growth in the three Advanced Materials segments for DuPont. Strengthening and growing the company's leading position in high-value advanced materials is one of the three areas of strategic priority for DuPont.

Discussing the company's Advanced Materials segments, Trerotola said, "We've made excellent progress in Performance Materials, Safety & Protection and Electronics & Communications. Our bottom line earnings and operating margins have increased, and we are committed to further improvements. Moving forward, we are driving to accelerate growth while expanding margins in support of the DuPont strategy to build a higher growth, higher value company."

Mr. Trerotola highlighted the strong progress DuPont made across the company in 2014, including: further refining its portfolio with 10 strategic portfolio actions and the advancement of the anticipated mid-year spin-off of Chemours; increasing the company's cost reduction targets for its operational redesign to at least $1.3 billion by 2017 on an annual run-rate basis; and continuing the company's commitment to return significant capital to shareholders with $3.7 billion returned to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends in 2014 alone.

Mr. Trerotola also noted several factors the company and Advanced Materials segments are confronting that will have an impact on the first quarter, but expressed confidence in long-term performance: "As we noted before, 2015 will be a challenging economic environment as we face certain headwinds related to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar and the continued volatility in energy markets which impacts our Performance Materials segment. In addition, the unplanned outage at our Chambers Works facility will challenge productivity and earnings in our Safety & Protection segment in the first quarter. We are committed and confident in our ability to execute on our plans while remaining poised to capitalize on changing market conditions and growth opportunities."

In addition, Mr. Trerotola outlined how DuPont is strengthening and growing its leading positions in Advanced Materials: "Today, DuPont is focused on a $50 billion portion of a $500 billion potential market. We believe we can accelerate our growth in the market space we are currently targeting while tapping into new market opportunities as our businesses execute against their strategies. These strategies include: step-changing applications development; collaborating for maximum success in key markets and applications, and driving an advanced materials pipeline of major innovations that includes both traditional and bio-based materials. While we have made strong bottom line progress in our Advanced Materials segments, we believe these initiatives will help us drive faster top line growth while retaining strong operating leverage."

"Our market relevance and integrated science are true competitive advantages for DuPont. We use market-facing units, networks and strategic account management to maximize our relevance at key customers. Our business draws on leading science and engineering to bring integrated science solutions to the world. Going forward, we see very exciting opportunities to bring renewables and bio-engineered materials into new and existing applications in our markets," concluded Trerotola.

To view a full copy of today's presentation, visit the "Events & Presentations" page on the DuPont Investor Center.

DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com.

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SOURCE DuPont