DuPont., the largest U.S. chemical company by market value, posted first-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates as profit from crop seeds and pesticides hit a record and pigment demand began to recover. Profit excluding the auto-paint unit, which was sold in February, and payments to settle claims that Imprelis herbicide damaged trees was $1.56 a share, Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont said in a statement yesterday.

DuPont maintained its full-year forecast for operating earnings of $3.85 to $4.05 a share, a gain of 2 percent to 7 percent. The average estimate of 20 analysts was $3.92. Higher earnings won’t be realized until the second half, as DuPont said first-half operating profit will drop 7 percent to 9 percent because of a decline in its performance chemicals business, which makes paint pigment.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ellen Kullman, who agreed last month to pay Monsanto Co. at least $1.75 billion over a decade to license new herbicide-tolerant soybeans, is focusing on products that help meet demand for food, energy and security.

Sales at the agriculture unit rose 14 percent on corn seed sales in North America and Brazil, boosting operating earnings in the unit 13 percent to a record $1.52 billion.

DuPont rose 3 percent to $51.91 at 11 a.m. in New York. The company also said today it raised its quarterly dividend to 45 cents a share from 43 cents. First-quarter net income, which included a one-time gain from the sale of the auto-paint unit, climbed to $3.35 billion, or $3.58 a share, from $1.49 billion, or $1.58, a year earlier. Sales rose to $10.4 billion from $10.2 billion. Revenue was strongest in North America, where higher prices and sales volumes contributed to an 8 percent gain, DuPont said. Sales rose 4 percent in Latin America and fell 8 percent in the Asia-Pacific region. (Bloomberg)