(Reuters) - Chemicals maker DuPont cut its operating profit forecast for the second quarter and full year, mainly due to a worse-than-expected performance at its agriculture and performance chemicals units.
The company's shares fell about 4 percent in extended trade.
DuPont has been focusing on its agriculture business ? its biggest ? for the last few quarters. However, in April, the company reported a rare decline in sales at this unit as farmers in North America delayed purchases due to an unusually harsh winter.
The company had said it expected "significant" growth in the unit's operating earnings in the current quarter.
But, on Thursday, DuPont cut its forecast for the farm business, citing lower-than-expected corn seed sales and higher-than-expected seed inventory write-downs.
The harsh winter also hit herbicide sales, the company said.
DuPont said it expected second-quarter operating profit to be moderately below the $1.28 per share it reported a year earlier. The company cut its full-year operating profit forecast to $4.00 per share from $4.10 per share.
Lower refrigerant selling prices hurt sales at DuPont's performance chemicals business, which is in the process of being hived off.
The spin off is part of the company's strategy to move into less volatile businesses. The chemicals unit has weighed on DuPont's results since 2012, mainly due to weak prices for a white pigment used in toothpastes, sunscreen and other products.
The company also said it expected to record a pre-tax restructuring charge of about $270 million, or 20 cents per share after tax, in the second quarter.
A number of chemical companies, including Dow Chemical Co
DuPont shares closed at $67.70 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee; Editing by Simon Jennings)
