Dow Chemical 2Q net dips
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July 22, 1999: 8:19 a.m. ET
But plastics maker, facing price woes, tops targets due to productivity gains
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Dow Chemical Inc.'s second-quarter earnings dropped 4 percent due to a tumble in market prices, but the plastics maker easily topped analyst targets Thursday amid higher productivity and a better varied product mix.
Midland, Mich.-based Dow, the nation's second-largest chemicals company after DuPont, earned $410 million, or $1.83 a diluted share, during the second quarter. That's down from $425 million, or $1.86 a diluted share, a year earlier.
The latest quarter results were well above the $1.67 per share consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp.
Sales fell five percent to $4.6 billion.
Dow Chemical, which makes plastics, chemicals and herbicides, said its productivity improvements and a better product mix offset a $275 million, or 79 cents a share, impact from the decline in market prices for its products.
"The fact that our earnings remain solid is a direct reflection of the significant strides we have made in forging a stronger portfolio and continuing to reduce our structural costs," said William Stavropoulos, president and CEO, in a statement. "Many of our businesses are enduring prices that are lower than in the last chemical cycle trough, yet performing vastly better in terms of profitability."
Shares of Dow Chemical (DOW), which owns half of the breast-implant maker Dow Corning with glass maker Corning, rose 3/4 to 125 in Wednesday trading.
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Dow Chemical
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