Du Pont Co. lost $240 million in...

Du Pont Co. lost $240 million in the final three months of 1991 because of one-time charges to pay for cutbacks and a fungicide recall, the chemical company said.

The charges contributed to a 39% drop in net income for the year.

The fourth-quarter loss amounted to 36 cents per share and came on sales of $9.8 billion. In the same period in 1990, the company had a profit of $468 million, or 69 cents per share, on sales of $11 billion.

Without the charges, the company’s fourth-quarter earnings would still have been 43% lower than the same period a year earlier. The company said the charges amounted to 70 cents per share.

For the whole year, Du Pont earned $1.4 billion, or $2.08 per share, compared to net income of $2.3 billion, or $3.40 per share, the year before. Sales were $38.7 billion, versus $40 billion in 1990.

“We continued to see operating results affected by sluggish economies worldwide, resulting in weak demand and price pressures” for several Du Pont businesses, including chemicals, said Edgar S. Woolard Jr., chairman and chief executive.

The one-time charges are due to the company’s $1-billion cost-cutting program announced in July and insurance payments related to the recall of Benlate, a fungicide.