Westlake Swings To Q4 Profit, But Sales Decline

(RTTNews) - Westlake Corporation (WLK), a provider of petrochemicals, polymers and fabricated building products, Tuesday reported a loss of $497 million or $3.86 per share for the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $232 million or $1.79 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, the company posted a profit of $103 million or $0.72 per share. On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters were expecting profit of $0.9 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales for the quarter declined to $2.826 billion from $3.299 billion last year. The consensus estimate was for $2.86 billion.