E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., parent company of Johnston-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., reported a net loss of $629 million, or 70 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008, due to a sharp decline in construction and motor vehicle sales and a drop in global industrial production.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, it had a net income of $545 million, or 60 cents per share.

Excluding a restructuring charge of 42 cents per share and other significant items, DuPont would have had a fourth-quarter loss of $249 million.

Net sales declined by 17 percent to $5.8 billion. Sales fell in all of DuPont’s regions, including a 15 percent drop in the United States and a 16 percent decline in its emerging markets.

Sales in DuPont’s agriculture and nutrition segment, which includes Pioneer, was down 2 percent to $1.2 billion. It was the best-performing of the five segments, with the rest having double-digit percentage declines. The agriculture and nutrition segment incurred by a pre-tax loss of $164 million due to variable cost increases in commodity and other raw material costs and a less favorable crop protection products volume and mix. Results in the fourth quarter of 2007 included a gain from an asset sale.

DuPont said it expects weak industrial economic conditions to continue throughout the year. It lowered its 2009 earnings outlook to a range of $2 to $2.50 per share from $2.25 to $2.75 per share.