Antonella Franzen
Senior Vice Presidents & Chief Financial Officer at DuPont de Nemours
Thanks, Lori, and good morning, everyone. We are pleased with the solid finish to a strong year of financial performance. End-market recovery and improved volumes have been the primary driver of our accelerated sales and earnings growth throughout 2024, and our teams have also continued to execute well on our operational excellence initiatives, including both enhanced productivity and the previously-announced cost actions. I look-forward to the continued momentum that we are carrying into 2025, but first, I'll cover our 4th-quarter financial highlights in further detail, beginning on Slide 5. Net sales of $3.1 billion increased 7% versus the year-ago period as an 8% increase in volume was slightly offset by a 1% decrease in price.
Currency and portfolio were both flat. Higher-volume was led by continued strong demand in electronics end-markets with semi and interconnect solutions both up double-digits. Further acceleration in Water Solutions yielding double-digit volume gains and a return to year-over-year growth in both Safety Solutions and Industrial Solutions. On a segment view, E&I and W&P organic sales grew 10% and 6%, respectively. Organic sales in corporate declined 7% versus the year-ago period. From a regional perspective, Asia-Pacific delivered 11% organic sales growth year-over-year, including another strong quarter in China, where organic sales also increased 11% due to continued strength in electronics markets and acceleration in water. Organic sales were up 5% in North-America and up 1% in Europe.
4th-quarter operating EBITDA of $807 million increased 13% versus the year-ago period as volume gains, the benefit of higher production rates and savings from restructuring actions were partially offset by higher variable compensation. Operating EBITDA margin during the quarter of 26.1% increased 140 basis-points year-over-year. 4th-quarter cash generation was strong, reflecting a continued working capital discipline across the businesses. On a continuing operations basis, cash-flow from operations of $564 million, capex of $161 million and $52 million of separation-related transaction cost payments resulted in transaction adjusted free-cash flow of $455 million and related conversion of 96%.
As Lori mentioned earlier, 2024 was a strong year for cash performance with transaction adjusted free-cash flow of $1.8 billion and related conversion of 105%. Turning to Slide 6, adjusted EPS for the quarter of $1.13 per share increased 30% from $0.87 in the year-ago period. Higher segment earnings of $0.17 as well as below-the-line benefits totaling $0.09 from a combination of lower share count, tax-rate and foreign-exchange losses drove the year-over-year increase. Turning to segment results, beginning with E&I on Slide 7. E&I 4th-quarter net sales of $1.5 billion increased 11% versus the year-ago period on organic sales growth of 10% and favorable portfolio impact of 1%, reflecting the Donatell acquisition.
Organic sales growth of 10% reflects an 11% increase in volume, slightly offset by a 1% decrease in price. At the line-of-business level, organic sales for semi were up low-teens on continued semiconductor demand recovery, driven by AI technology applications. Semi demand continues to be notably strong in China with year-over-year growth of about 40% during the quarter. Given elevated levels of growth throughout 2024, we currently anticipate relatively flat semi sales in China for 2025, though overall organic growth in semi is expected to be up 6% to 7% for the full-year. Interconnect Solutions posted another quarter of strong results with organic sales up low-double-digits, reflecting broad-based end-market strength, additional share gains and continued volume benefits from AI-driven technology ramps.
Industrial Solutions returned to organic growth in the quarter with organic sales up mid-single digits due to improved demand for biopharma within healthcare and continued strength in printing and packaging applications. Operating EBITDA for E&I of $457 million was up 21% versus the year-ago period. On volume gains, the benefit of higher production rates, savings from restructuring actions and a $13 million gain related to a technology license agreement, which was contemplated in our guidance. The year-over-year increase is partially offset by higher variable compensation. Operating EBITDA margin during the quarter was 30.3%, up 250 basis-points versus the year-ago period. For the full-year, E&I net sales of $5.9 billion increased 11% with 6% organic sales growth.
For the full-year, operating EBITDA of $1.7 billion increased 17% with operating EBITDA margins of 29%, up 140 basis-points from the prior year. Turning to Slide 8, W&P 4th-quarter net sales of $1.4 billion increased 6% versus the year-ago period due to an 8% increase in volume, partially offset by a 2% decrease in price. Safety Solutions returned to year-over-year growth as organic sales were up high-single-digits, reflecting continued improvement in healthcare markets, evidenced by medical packaging sales lift for three consecutive quarters, including a 6% increase from Q3. Shelter Solutions sales were flat on an organic basis with headwinds in North-America construction markets, offset by growth in repair and remodel demand. Within Water Solutions, sales were up low-double-digits on an organic basis, driven by continued broad-based volume recovery. On a sequential basis, Water Solutions sales also increased for a third straight quarter with sales up 4% from Q3 . Operating EBITDA for W&P during the quarter of $357 million was up 14% versus the year-ago period as volume gains and savings from restructuring actions were partially offset by higher variable compensation and the absence of about $25 million of discrete item benefits recorded in the prior year. Operating EBITDA margin during the quarter was 26.3%, up 170 basis-points from the year-ago period. For the full-year, W&P generated net sales of $5.4 billion with operating EBITDA of $1.4 billion. Operating EBITDA margin for the full-year of 25.1% increased 50 basis-points. Turning to Slide nine, which outlines our first-quarter 2025 and full-year guidance expectations. At a consolidated level for the first-quarter, we estimate net sales of about $3.025 billion, operating EBITDA of about $760 million and adjusted EPS of $0.95 per share. Our first-quarter net sales guidance assumes mid-single-digit organic growth and a currency headwind of about 1.5% versus the first-quarter of 2024. We expect a more normal seasonal progression into the second-quarter with a sequential sales lift of about 6% to 7% from the first-quarter. For the full-year 2025, we estimate consolidated net sales of $12.8 billion to $12.9 billion, operating EBITDA of $3.325 billion to $3.375 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.30 to $4.40 per share. Our full-year consolidated net sales guidance assumes mid-single-digit organic growth and a currency headwind of about 1%. Our EPS estimate includes a headwind from below-the-line items totaling $0.10 related primarily to an assumed 1% higher tax-rate versus this past year. I would also like to highlight that we plan on realigning our segment reporting structure in the first-quarter in advance of the intended separation of electronics later this year. We will begin reporting under this new structure when we release our first-quarter 2025 results. The businesses comprising the future electronics company will be reported as the Electronics Co segment, while the businesses that will remain with DuPont will be reported as the Industrials Co segment. We are providing historical segment information reflecting these realignments for comparison purposes, which you can find in the earnings presentation accompanying today's call. For the New Electronics Co segment, we expect full-year 2025 organic sales growth in the 6% to 7% range. This assumed growth is expected to be driven by ongoing strength within semi, fueled by continued AI adoptions and transition to advanced nodes, as well as the impact from more normalized sales in China as previously mentioned. In Interconnect Solutions, we expect continued growth driven by improved sentiment within consumer electronics and refresh cycles in support of AI adoption. For the new Industrial Co segment, we expect full-year 2025 organic sales growth in the 3% to 4% range. Within healthcare markets, we expect growth acceleration in medical devices, along with continued stabilization for medical packaging applications and in biopharma markets. In water, we expect a strong year for the business with continued volume growth year-over-year and we expect stable demand within markets served by our remaining industrial-based product lines. With that, we are pleased to take your questions and let me turn it back to the operator to open the Q&A.
