Dow Chemical hit by global slowdown

©Bloomberg

The Dow Chemical hydrocarbon production facility in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada

Dow Chemical reported a 25 per cent fall in earnings for 2012, hit by the slowdown in the world economy in the second half of the year, sending its shares down 6 per cent in morning trading.

Net income adjusted to exclude one-off items, including nearly $1bn of pre-tax restructuring costs, was down 24 per cent at $2.25bn for 2012, giving earnings per share of $1.90. Revenues were slightly weaker than analysts had expected, down 3 per cent for the year at $56.8bn.

Shares in the company fell to $32.65 in early New York trading.

Andrew Liveris, Dow’s chief executive, said the second half of 2012 “saw significant deterioration in the markets we serve, particularly in China”.

He said the US chemicals group had taken “aggressive action to mitigate the effects of a slow-to-no-growth global environment – by deploying cost and cash flow levers and by continuing to prudently manage our portfolio and prioritise growth investments”.

Revenues declined at all of Dow’s divisions except agricultural sciences, and in all regions, with the weakest performance coming in western Europe.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were also down in all divisions except for agricultural sciences, which reported a 7 per cent rise to $977m.

The steepest decline was a 41 per cent drop in ebitda from performance materials such as solvents and surfactants, which fell to $1bn. Mr Liveris said he was not planning for “material economic tailwinds” this year, but the company had made $2.5bn of cost reductions and cash flow improvements, and was “aggressively managing our portfolio – by prioritising our growth programmes and driving selective, non-core divestitures”.

He added that Dow’s development of the new plants able to benefit from cheaper feedstocks in Saudi Arabia and in the Gulf of Mexico region would help deliver higher earnings in the future.