Dow reports first quarter results

The Dow Chemical Company achieved sales of $14.7 billion in the first quarter of 2011, a 20 percent increase compared with the same period last year. Top-line growth was driven by an 8 percent increase in volume and a 12 percent increase in price. All operating segments and geographic areas reported double-digit sales increases.

Reported earnings for the quarter were $0.54 per share, compared with $0.41 per share in the same period last year. The Company earned $0.82 per share in the quarter, excluding certain items. This compares with earnings of $0.43 per share in the same quarter last year, excluding certain items. Certain items in the current quarter consisted of a loss on the early extinguishment of debt of $0.26 per share, and Rohm and Haas acquisition-related integration costs of $0.02 per share, both reflected in Corporate.

At a Company level, EBITDA rose $622 million, or 34 percent, to $2.4 billion. This represents the second highest quarterly EBITDA on record for the Company. Performance Products and Chemicals and Energy each posted EBITDA increases in excess of 50 percent, and Coatings and Infrastructure EBITDA increased more than 30 percent. Health and Agricultural Sciences EBITDA reached a new quarterly record of $406 million and Plastics EBITDA exceeded $800 million

Equity earnings were $298 million, led by strong performance from Dow Corning, MEGlobal and the Company’s joint ventures in Kuwait.

Coatings and Infrastructure sales were $1.4 billion, up 16 percent compared with the same period last year. Volume rose 3 percent versus the year-ago period, and price was up 13 percent. Volume gains were reported in Dow Adhesives and Functional Polymers and Dow Building and Construction, while volume fell slightly in Dow Coating Materials due to soft demand from architectural end-markets in developed regions and constrained supply for industrial coatings raw materials.

Sales in Plastics were $3 billion, up 19 percent from the same quarter last year. Volume increased 5 percent, while price rose 14 percent. Polyethylene reported a double-digit sales gain, driven by price increases in all geographic areas resulting from healthy demand and increasing raw material costs.

Middle East highlights for 2011 include

Business Growth

Dow announced the opening of its new office in Kuwait. Headed by Jamel Attal, Dow’s newly appointed Managing Director in Kuwait, the new office emphasizes the critical significance of its investments and partnerships in the country.

Innovation

Dow and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) finalized a comprehensive cooperation agreement that establishes Dow’s Middle East and Africa R&D Center at KAUST on the University’s campus. The agreement represents another milestone for Dow as a Founding Member of the KAUST Industrial Collaboration Program (KICP).

Dow participated in and sponsored the ‘en.v Initiative’, REUSE Speakers Forum.  As a series of panel discussions that were the first of its kind in Kuwait, the purpose of the forum was to promote a dialogue on sustainability in the region and spark a discussion on ways that can further put into perspective the challenges that the Arab world is facing regarding environmental issues. 

Social Investment

Dow Chemical in Kuwait signed a sponsorship agreement with Al Bayan Bi-lingual School (BBS), a leading Kuwaiti educational institution, to launch various educational programs about sustainability, the importance of environmental conservation and recycling practices.

Dow Chemical in Kuwait supported REUSE 4.0, Kuwait’s foremost sustainability and recycling event, as Title Sponsor. The sponsorship is part of a wide-ranging partnership with ‘The en.v Initiative’, a leading organization dedicated to social responsibility in the Arab World, to promote sustainability in the country.

Dow was a premier benefactor of the Kuwait-America Foundation (KAF) “Enduring Support” gala dinner. The 2011 gala raised money for the United Services Organization (USO), specifically to support programs to provide rehabilitation programs for American military veterans and their families.