Dow Chemical Swings to Loss

By Imani Moise

Dow Chemical Co., looking to complete its merger with rival DuPont Co., swung to a loss in the most recent quarter, though adjusted earnings grew more than expected.

During the quarter the company opted to book a more than $1 billion pretax charge to account for future asbestos-related expenses covering the next 40 years. Excluding this charge and other items, the company's earnings grew 6%.

Sales in plastics, Dow's largest segment, grew 4% to $4.8 billion while the infrastructure solutions segment surged 41% to $2.4 billion and performance material and chemical sales edged up 1% to $2.41 billion.

DuPont, which reported better-than-expected earnings earlier this week, and Dow have said their aim is to unite to form an industrial behemoth worth about $129 billion before breaking up into companies agriculture, materials, and specialty products like enzymes and electronic components.

The merger, initially said to close in late 2016, is now expected to close after March as the companies await regulatory approval.

Over all, Dow reported a loss of $33 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a profit of $3.53 billion, or $2.94 a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, the company earned 99 cents a share, up from 93 cents a year earlier.

Revenue jumped 14% to $13.02 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 88 cents on $12.38 billion in revenue.

Shares of Dow rose 1.9% to $61.35 in premarket trade. Dow closed Wednesday at $60.01 and is up 12% over the past three months.

Write to Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2017 08:28 ET (13:28 GMT)

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