Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™ Executive Outlines Future Strategy

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™ (NYSE: DWDP) Chief Operating Officer James C. Collins, Jr. today presented an update on the Agriculture Division financial performance and strategic progress during the 2018 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Agriculture & Chemicals Conference – providing a view of the Division's recent cost synergy achievements, as well as near-term product launches and longer term portfolio growth drivers.

"We are coming out of 2017 from a position of strength, with a strong pipeline and playbook of cost and growth synergies that will enable us to continue to deliver earnings growth even within an uncertain market environment," Collins said.

In an update on the Agriculture Division's progress toward its expected spin by June 1, 2019, Collins affirmed the Division's cost synergy commitment of approximately $1.1 billion – sharing plans to deliver approximately $300 million in cost synergies in 2018 vs. 2017. Synergy progress in 2018 is expected to come from actions to further streamline its operating structure, minimize its asset footprint and optimize its product portfolio.

Growth drivers in the near term include product launches across the combined R&D pipelines – with $4.5 billion in peak sales expected from recent and upcoming launches in the 2017 to 2018 timeframe.

Delivering a Complete Solution for the Farmer

Collins presented a first look at the combined R&D pipeline – highlighting technology solutions in the Seed and Crop Protection business platforms that, together with innovation progress in the unique cross-platform and emerging digital agriculture areas, are expected to enable near-term results and strengthen the Agriculture Division's long-term competitive position.

"The industry-leading innovation pipelines we're bringing together have robust offerings today," Collins said. "Our scientists and experts are making critical headway in important areas such as targeted breeding and digital agriculture – all while delivering advanced biotechnology, crop protection and agronomic solutions that farmers need." Programs in the broader product pipeline are expected to deliver peak sales of greater than $22 billion over the long term.

In the Seed platform, Collins commented on the value of its leading competitive position across key market segments and geographic regions – and presented examples of how this position and continued technology innovation are supporting ongoing sales strength in Seed.

Pointing to its solid North America presence and strengthening global position as primary drivers, Collins highlighted key anticipated Seed launches expected to enable near-term progress such as Enlist™ and Qrome^® in North America, as well as ramp-up of Leptra^® and PowerCore^® penetration and introduction of Conkesta E3™ soybeans in Latin America. "Longer term, increased strength and depth across core Insect and Herbicide trait areas will serve as key drivers in enabling this combined pipeline to deliver against multigenerational needs for insect and weed control," Collins said.

Collins provided an update on recent achievements in the Division's breeding portfolio that continue to accelerate scale and quality of the combined breeding pipeline. Collins said, "We are expanding the strength of our digital breeding technology and utilizing innovative methods to drive productivity and shorten our time to market." Collins commented on recent early success in targeted breeding, "We are quickly adopting and deploying CRISPR-Cas technology to accelerate development of new trait concepts broadly across crops."

In an update on the Crop Protection platform, Collins emphasized its focus toward driving cost-advantage and increasing differentiation to further strengthen results. "We are rapidly ramping up new Crop Protection solutions that will build on our strengths and position in key market segments, targeting higher margin returns while maintaining a strict focus on strong portfolio discipline," Collins said.

Crop Protection solutions such as Inatreq™, Vessarya™ and Zorvec™ for disease-control, Rinskor™ for rice-protection, and Pyraxalt™ and Isoclast™ for insect control are among the recent and upcoming launches that – together with the acceleration of existing products such as Spinetoram and Spinosad – are expected to drive near-term growth broadly across the combined Crop Protection business platform. Longer term, looking across the Crop Protection portfolio, the Division expects more than $3.5 billion of peak sales from existing pipeline programs in stage two and beyond.

Collins emphasized the Division's ongoing focus on simultaneously delivering against cost-synergy commitments and employing a best-owner mindset across its Crop Protection product portfolios. "We are building competitive cost advantages across the platform – leveraging our strong market position, enhanced scale and right-sized operating model to make targeted margin improvements."

Recent technology collaborations and innovation advances at the intersection of the Seed and Crop Protection business platforms are enabling an emerging cross-platform innovation leadership position for the Division – with innovations such as the full Enlist™ system and recent seed applied technology advancements as most notable proof points.

In the emerging area of digital agriculture, Collins provided an update of the Division's ongoing efforts. "We are expanding our solutions to enable greater choices for farmers via end-to-end operational management software." Collins continued, "As the first in our industry to deliver both an agronomy and a complete farm management solution, we are opening up new pathways of growth for the agriculture industry."

DowDuPont invites investors to listen to the replay of the presentation through its website at www.dow-dupont.com/investors.

About Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™             
Corteva Agriscience™ is currently the agriculture division of DowDuPont™ (NYSE: DWDP) and is intended to become an independent, publicly traded company once the previously announced spin-off is complete by June 2019.  The division combines the strengths of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection and Dow AgroSciences. Corteva Agriscience™ provides growers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry, including some of the most recognized brands in agriculture: Pioneer®, Encirca®, the newly launched Brevant™ Seeds, award-winning Crop Protection products while bringing new products to market though our solid pipeline of action chemistry and technologies.  More information can be found at www.corteva.com.

About DowDuPont
DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP) is a holding company comprised of The Dow Chemical Company and DuPont with the intent to form strong, independent, publicly traded companies in agriculture, materials science and specialty products sectors that will lead their respective industries through productive, science-based innovation to meet the needs of customers and help solve global challenges. For more information, please visit us at www.dow-dupont.com.

Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," "target," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words.

On December 11, 2015, The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company ("DuPont") announced entry into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, as amended on March 31, 2017, (the "Merger Agreement") under which the companies would combine in an all-stock merger of equals transaction (the "Merger Transaction"). Effective August 31, 2017, the Merger Transaction was completed and each of Dow and DuPont became subsidiaries of DowDuPont Inc. ("DowDuPont"). For more information, please see each of DowDuPont's, Dow's and DuPont's latest annual, quarterly and current reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, as the case may be, and the joint proxy statement/prospectus included in the registration statement on Form S-4 filed by DowDuPont with the SEC on March 1, 2016 (File No. 333-209869), as last amended on June 7, 2016, and declared effective by the SEC on June 9, 2016 (the "Registration Statement") in connection with the Merger Transaction.

Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, including the intended separation of DowDuPont's agriculture, materials science and specialty products businesses in one or more tax efficient transactions on anticipated terms (the "Intended Business Separations"). Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events which may not be realized. Forward-looking statements also involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control. Some of the important factors that could cause DowDuPont's, Dow's or DuPont's actual results to differ materially from those projected in any such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) successful integration of the respective agriculture, materials science and specialty products businesses of Dow and DuPont, including anticipated tax treatment, unforeseen liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, productivity actions, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses, future prospects, business and management strategies for the management, expansion and growth of the combined operations; (ii) impact of the divestitures required as a condition to consummation of the Merger Transaction as well as other conditional commitments; (iii) achievement of the anticipated synergies by DowDuPont's agriculture, materials science and specialty products businesses; (iv) risks associated with the Intended Business Separations, including those that may result from the comprehensive portfolio review undertaken by the DowDuPont board, changes and timing, including a number of conditions which could delay, prevent or otherwise adversely affect the proposed transactions, including possible issues or delays in obtaining required regulatory approvals or clearances related to the Intended Business Separations, disruptions in the financial markets or other potential barriers; (v) the risk that disruptions from the Intended Business Separations will harm DowDuPont's business (either directly or as conducted by and through Dow or DuPont), including current plans and operations; (vi) the ability to retain and hire key personnel; (vii) potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the completion of the merger or the Intended Business Separations; (viii) uncertainty as to the long-term value of DowDuPont common stock; (ix) continued availability of capital and financing and rating agency actions; (x) legislative, regulatory and economic developments; (xi) potential business uncertainty, including changes to existing business relationships, during the pendency of the Intended Business Separations that could affect the company's financial performance and (xii) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism or outbreak of war or hostilities, as well as management's response to any of the aforementioned factors. These risks, as well as other risks associated with the merger and the Intended Business Separations, are more fully discussed in (1) the Registration Statement and (2) the current, quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC by DowDuPont and to the extent incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement, by Dow and DuPont. While the list of factors presented here is, and the list of factors presented in the Registration Statement are, considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on DowDuPont's, Dow's or DuPont's consolidated financial condition, results of operations, credit rating or liquidity. None of DowDuPont, Dow or DuPont assumes any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.

Follow Corteva Agriscience™ agriculture division of DowDuPont™ on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

All products, unless otherwise noted, denoted with ^™, ^℠ or ^® are trademarks or registered trademarks of DowDuPont.

SOURCE DowDuPont