By Lisa Beilfuss
Dow Chemical Co. said profit rose in its latest quarter as costs
fell, though adverse exchange rates and lower oil prices pushed the
chemical maker's sales lower.
The Michigan-based company, which manufactures products ranging
from insecticides to paint to plastics, generates about two-thirds
of its revenue outside of the U.S. The stronger dollar, which makes
its products more expensive abroad, has bit into results.
Though the company has benefited in recent years from high oil
prices and cheap North American natural gas, as it uses cheaper
U.S. gas to make plastics and consumer goods while competitors rely
on pricier oil-based fuels, the sharp decline in the price of oil
has hurt pricing power.
In the face of those issues, Dow brought its cost of sales down
18% in the quarter.
Overall for the period, Dow booked a profit of $1.22 billion, or
97 cents a share, up from $967 million, or 73 cents, a year
earlier. Excluding resturucturing-related items, among others,
per-share profit rose to 91 cents from 74 cents.
Revenue slid to $12.91 billion.
Analysts expected 83 cents in earnings per share and $13 billion
in sales, according to Thomson Reuters.
In the company's plastics business--its largest--sales dropped
16% to $4.8 billion as lower pricing and currency headwinds offset
volume gains. Materials and chemical sales fell 14% to $3.2 billion
as pricing and currency issues countered higher demand.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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