SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): July 9, 1998
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Delaware 1-815 51-0014090
(State or Other Jurisdiction (Commission (I.R.S Employer
of Incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)
1007 Market Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19898
(Address of principal executive offices)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (302) 774-1000
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Item 5. Other Events
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In connection with Debt and/or Equity Securities that
may be offered on a delayed or continuous basis under
Registration Statements on Form S-3 (No. 33-53327, No. 33-61339
and No. 33-60069), we hereby file the following press release.
Contact: Susan Gaffney
(302) 774-2698
DUPONT ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS SHORTFALL
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Wilmington, Del., July 9 -- DuPont today announced
that it expects 1998 second quarter diluted earnings to be
10-15 percent below the $.99 per share earned in the same period
a year ago.
About half of this shortfall is due to a sudden shift in
June in the crop protection products business due to weather and
competitive pricing pressures in North America combined with
weak demand and currency translations in Asia. The other half
is made up of three key factors -- sharply lower oil prices, the
General Motors strike and lower demand in the textile apparel
industry.
"Our earnings performance this quarter is unacceptable,
and I have begun putting in place specific actions to improve
second half performance," said Charles O. Holliday, Jr., DuPont
president and CEO.
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"We have strong underlying fundamentals in the chemicals
and specialties businesses despite the impact of slower economic
growth, the Asian financial crisis and dilution from 1997
acquisitions. However, unless we see an improvement in energy
prices, we are unlikely to meet our objective of a fifth
consecutive year of record earnings," said Holliday.
I remain committed to successfully transforming DuPont
into a highly profitable life sciences and materials company.
Our strategy is in place, and in the last 90 days we have
announced that we will exit the oil business, purchased Merck's
share of our pharmaceuticals joint venture, and organized
DuPont's chemicals and specialties businesses to aggressively
implement differentiated strategies for long-term profitable
growth," said Holliday.
DuPont will announce second quarter 1998 earnings on
July 22.
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7/9/98
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY
(Registrant)
/s/ D. B. Smith
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D. B. Smith
Assistant Controller
July 9, 1998
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