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Dow 2Q profit declines
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July 26, 2001: 7:02 a.m. ET
No. 2 chemical maker beats forecasts; sees 3Q near current estimates
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Dow Chemical Co. reported Thursday that second-quarter profit plunged by more than half, but the company still beat Wall Street's expectations and said earnings and merger-related cost savings are on track.
The nation's No. 2 chemical maker earned $582 million, or 33 cents a diluted share, excluding special items. That's down from net income of $1.1 billion, or 72 cents a share, it would have earned a year earlier assuming that it already had completed its purchase of Union Carbide Co.
Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call were looking for earnings per share of 30 cents in the most recent period.
Including merger-related charges and other special items, the company posted net income of $558 million, or 31 cents a share, in the quarter.
Revenue fell 3 percent to $7.3 billion, reflecting a 3 percent decrease in pricing and a slight decrease in worldwide sales volume when the effects of divestures are excluded.
Dow (DOW: Research, Estimates) said it expects third-quarter earnings per share of 25 to 35 cents, a range that includes the current First Call forecast of 27 cents.
The company said it was hit with lower pricing coupled with higher energy and raw material costs compared with the year-earlier period. But it said those costs had declined from the first-quarter and that economic conditions in North America may have stabilized.
It also said it expects to hit its $1.1 billion target for merger-related cost savings by the first quarter of next year. That deal, first announced in August 1999, closed Feb. 6 this year.
Shares of Dow gained 81 cents to $34.69 Wednesday. 
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