DuPont profit falls 57 percent after sale of performance coating unit

(Reuters) - Chemicals maker DuPont reported a 57 percent fall in first-quarter net income due to the sale of its performance coating business, which added almost $2 billion (1 billion pounds) to earnings in the year-earlier quarter. Net income attributable to DuPont dropped to $1.44 billion, or $1.54 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $3.35 billion, or $3.58 per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell nearly 3 percent to $10.13 billion. (Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore)