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 Dow and DuPont are on track to complete an all-stock merger in a
first step toward breaking up into three separate businesses focused
on agriculture, material science and specialty products.
"We see strong demand signals in North America, gradual recovery in
Europe and ongoing sustainable urbanization in China," Dow Chief
Executive Andrew Liveris said in a statement.
The company was seeing continued strength in the packaging,
transportation and infrastructure markets, he said.
Dow has been shifting its focus to high-margin businesses after
shedding volatile commodity businesses such as its century-old
chlorine business.
The company's margins rose 164 basis points to 21.1 percent in the
first quarter ended March 31.
However, net income available to the company's common shareholders
fell 87.9 percent, mainly due to a charge related to the settlement
of a class action suit.
Dow agreed in February to pay $835 million to settle a decade-long
lawsuit. Several companies, including Dow, had been accused by
customers in a 2005 lawsuit of conspiring to fix prices of urethane
chemicals in the preceding six years.
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The company's net income fell to $169 million, or 15 cents per
share, in the quarter, from $1.39 billion, or $1.18 per share, a
year earlier.
Excluding the legal charge and other items, profit was 89 cents per
share, higher than the average analyst estimate of 83 cents,
according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net sales fell 13.5 percent to $10.70 billion, beating analysts'
estimate of $10.66 billion.
(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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