In a briefing yesterday with securities analysts and investors at the New York Stock Exchange, DuPont Chairman & CEO Chad Holliday said the company’s growth and productivity strategies for increasing shareholder value are generating strong results and DuPont expects its positive momentum to continue in 2007.

“The plan we announced last year to accelerate shareholder value is on track,” Chad said. “Our growth strategies are working and our productivity initiatives are paying off. As a result, our margins are expanding and return on capital is increasing.”

Updates provided by Chad and other senior leaders included:

Research and Development Pipeline (Putting Science to Work)
•DuPont expects to generate more than 33 percent of its 2006 revenues, or approximately USD 9 billion, from new products. This will be the sixth consecutive year that DuPont has increased its percentage of sales from new products.

•DuPont has filed 1,190 U.S. patents and introduced 908 new products through the end of the third quarter. These include Herculex® rootworm trait and stacks, photovoltaic panel materials, new energy-efficient Tyvek® materials, and hybrid membrane structures for advanced filtration.

•DuPont discussed the first commercial shipments of Bio-PDO™ from its joint venture facility with Tate & Lyle in Tennessee – making it the first facility in the world to manufacture this new bio-based product.

Growth in New Markets (Going Where the Growth Is)
•DuPont sales in non-G7 countries have grown at an average annual rate of 17 percent over the past five years and now total 36 percent of global revenue. Non G-7 countries include: U.S., Japan, Canada, Italy, France, Germany and the U.K. Revenues in Brazil, Russia, India and China are anticipated to grow more than 20 percent in 2006.

•DuPont is strengthening its position in attractive high-growth commercial markets that value and reward innovation. Energy solutions – including biofuels, photovoltaics, and refinery solutions – and auto lightweighting – replacing traditional automotive materials with lighter materials for enhanced fuel efficiency – are among the growth markets DuPont is targeting.

Cost Productivity (The Power of One DuPont)
•DuPont continues to capture cost productivity gains. Year-to-date fixed costs declined USD 178 million, which puts the company ahead of its 2006 plan to offset inflation and growth investments with cost savings. Year-to-date, fixed costs as a percent of sales have declined 150 basis points compared to last year. For 2007, DuPont expects to capture USD 400 million in cost savings from cost containment, standardization and streamlining projects.

Outlook
DuPont expects significantly higher fourth quarter 2006 earnings, before significant items, compared to the fourth quarter last year. Since its last outlook update on Oct. 24, demand in the U.S. housing market has declined further as customers make downward adjustments to inventory levels before year-end. The company will continue to execute its growth and productivity initiatives, but faces lower than anticipated demand in housing since its previous update. The company continues to expect 2006 reported earnings to be about USD 2.86 per share, including the net benefit of USD .01 per share from year-to-date significant items.