DowDuPont Plans Job Cuts as Part of $3 Billion Savings Push

DowDuPont Inc. said Thursday it plans to reduce its global workforce and shut down assets to help reach a $3 billion cost-savings goal, as the chemicals giant works to split itself into three separate companies.

DowDuPont, which closed its merger on Aug. 31, recorded a $180 million charge in the third quarter on its restructuring plan and intends to record a $1 billion charge in the fourth quarter.

The plans were part of the newly combined company's first quarterly report. The merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont faced significant scrutiny from regulators and had been in the making for two years.

And while the integration is fresh, the company is continuing to work on plans to divide itself, a plan that has been altered already because of displeasure from activist investors. The three companies will focus separately on agriculture, specialty products and materials science.

In its latest quarter, DowDuPont reported pro forma net income of $232 million, down 53% from a year ago. Excluding items including restructuring, pro forma net income rose 14% to $1.29 billion, or 55 cents a share. The company reported some of its financial results last week, which showed adjusted earnings came in ahead of analysts' expectations.

Pro forma net sales were $18.29 billion, up 8% from a year ago, with almost all segments reporting increases except for agriculture. Net sales were about flat for nutrition and biosciences, and rose for all regions except Latin America.

DowDuPont shares rose 0.9% in premarket trading.

Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 02, 2017 08:07 ET (12:07 GMT)