Ahead Of The Bell: DuPont Shareholder Meeting

NEW YORK (AP) — DuPont will host its annual shareholders meeting Wednesday, a little more than a week after the chemicals maker posted a 59 percent drop in first-quarter profit.

The company, also known as EI DuPont de Nemours & Co., is set to meet with its stockholders at 10:30 a.m. EDT at its headquarters in Wilmington, Del.

The meeting will be Ellen Kullman's first as chief executive since assuming the roll in January.

Shareholders will vote on 13 nominees for the company's board of directors.

Among the nominees is Samuel W. Bodman, who served as secretary of energy under President George W. Bush and was previously the chairman and CEO of Cabot Corp.

Last Tuesday the company — which makes the Tyvek and Kevlar brands, among many other products — posted earnings of $488 million, or 54 cents per share, down from $1.19 billion, or $1.31 per share, a year ago. DuPont also cut its 2009 outlook.

Both developments were blamed on the volatile economic environment, which has sent demand for chemicals down in recent months.

After posting the earnings, though, the company did declare a dividend of 41 cents per share of common stock.