DuPont Chairman and CEO to Speak at the Morgan Stanley Basic Materials Conference

WILMINGTON, Del.,  February 25, 2004  —  Charles O. Holliday, Jr., DuPont chairman and chief executive officer, addressed industry analysts and investors attending the Morgan Stanley Basic Materials Conference today in New York City.

Holliday gave analysts and investors an update on the progress of DuPont's five growth platforms: DuPont Agriculture & Nutrition, DuPont Coatings & Color Technologies, DuPont Electronic & Communications Technologies, DuPont Performance Materials, and DuPont Safety & Protection. He noted that in a relatively short period of time, the growth platform concept had gained traction, increasing the pace of collaboration across DuPont businesses and bringing creative solutions to the needs of DuPont customers. Holliday discussed recent achievements and 2004 focus for each platform.

Holliday also reviewed the status of actions under way to offset the impacts from the sale of the INVISTA™ fibers and textiles subsidiary, leverage and strengthen the capabilities of DuPont functions and aggressively drive margin improvement across the company.

In December of 2003, the company announced productivity and organizational actions to achieve $900 million in cost improvement in 2005. He said that the company was on track to meet those goals.

Holliday also confirmed DuPont's 2004 earnings outlook of $2.00 to $2.20 per share for the full year and $0.65 to $0.75 per share for the first quarter, as announced on January 27, 2004. These outlooks do not include estimates for any 2004 special items, including anticipated restructuring and the INVISTA separation, as these cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.

DuPont is a science company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by solving problems and creating solutions that make people's lives better, safer and easier. Operating in more than 70 countries, the company offers a wide range of products and services to markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.

Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about the company's strategy for growth, product development, market position, expected expenditures and financial results are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "projects," "indicates," and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, including those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by DuPont, particularly its latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, as well as others, could cause results to differ materially from those stated. These factors include, but are not limited to changes in the laws, regulations, policies and economic conditions, including inflation, interest and foreign currency exchange rates, of countries in which the company does business; competitive pressures; successful integration of structural changes, including restructuring plans, acquisitions, divestitures and alliances; cost of raw materials, research and development of new products, including regulatory approval and market acceptance; and seasonality of sales of agricultural products.

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02/25/04