DowDuPont (DWDP)

DowDuPont (DWDP)

U.S. chemicals producer DowDuPont reported better-than-expected profit for the fourth straight quarter, driven by higher prices and strong demand for its products including paints and packaging materials.

Net sales rose 17 percent to $24.2 billion, which the company said compares with net sales of $20.7 billion that DowDuPont would have made had it been one company in the same quarter a year earlier. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.37 per share, an increase of 41 percent. Analysts on average were expecting the company to report a profit of $1.30 per share on revenue of $23.6 billion.

The company has informed India it is putting off trials needed for approval to sell a genetically modified variety of corn, taking a cue from U.S. rival Monsanto that has also pulled a similar application due to intellectual property concerns. In a letter addressed to India's environment ministry reviewed by Reuters, the Indian arm of DowDuPont said it had obtained permission to conduct trials growing a small crop of the corn in the northern state of Punjab but would like to "defer the undertaking". "This is to confirm that we have deferred the Biosafety Research Level-I confined field trials with transgenic maize planned during the season of kharif 2018," a DowDuPont spokeswoman told Reuters in an email, referring to the summer planting season. "The company remains committed to advancing agricultural productivity in India."

CEO Edward Breen is set to take over as Chairman of its specialty products unit after the company completes a restructuring following the $130B merger of Dow and DuPont last September. The company plans to separate into three trading units focused on agriculture, plastics and specialty products.