Dow Chemical Q1 Profit Increases - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) reported that its net income available for the company common stockholders for the first quarter of 2015 increased to $1.393 billion from the prior year's $964 million, with earnings per share improving to $1.18 from $0.79 last year.

In the first quarter of 2015, the Company recognized a pretax gain of $670 million related to the divestiture of ANGUS Chemical Company and a pretax gain of $18 million related to the divestiture of the Sodium Borohydride business.

The company also recognized a pretax charge of $26 million in the first quarter of 2015 for nonrecurring transaction costs associated with the planned separation of a significant portion of the Company's chlorine value chain, consisting primarily of financial and professional advisory fees, legal fees and information systems infrastructure costs.

Operating earnings were $0.84 per share, up from $0.79 last year.

But, net Sales for the quarter dropped to $12.37 billion from $14.46 billion in the previous year. Sales were down 14 percent driven primarily by price declines, due to changes in crude oil values and currency devaluations versus the dollar.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.76 per share and revenues of $13.04 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Andrew Liveris, Dow's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "Looking ahead, we expect geopolitical and economic uncertainty throughout 2015, although the oil market is projected to be more favorable behind growing global demand in the coming quarters. In this environment, we will continue to execute against our growth commitments, demonstrated by our investment in bringing 5,000 new products to market in the last twelve months - with a similar amount planned for the next twelve months. In addition, our large Saudi Arabia and U.S. Gulf Coast projects will begin starting up later this year. Collectively these investments set Dow apart by further strengthening our portfolio through economic cycles and fortifying our long-term growth trajectory."