Two words, great management. Despite input costs rising 42% and the N. American slowdown, Dow delivered EPS of $.99 vs $1.00 last year beating the $.94 a share estimates.
Dow reported sales of $14.8 billion for the first quarter of 2008, 19& higher than in the same period last year, another quarterly sales record (beat last quarter). Net income was $941 million compared to $973 million in Q1 of 2007.
Equity earnings for the quarter were $274 million, marking the fifth consecutive quarter in which equity earnings exceeded $250 million. The importance of the equity portion is paramount as the percentage of profits derived from them is only going to increase in the future.
Another key sector, Agricultural Sciences, posted record sales of $1.3 billion, 27% higher than the same period last year and EBIT was $331 million, compared with $282 million in the year ago period (another record). Recent acquisitions of Agromen, MTI and Duo Maize performed well, and the integration of recently acquired Triumph Seeds is proceeding nicely.
“Dow delivered an exceptionally good quarter, in which broad-based pricing initiatives, growth in our Performance businesses, especially Dow AgroSciences, and our strong international presence counterbalanced ongoing weakness in the United States, and an unprecedented increase in purchased feedstock and energy costs,” said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Add in consistently robust contributions from joint ventures, and you can see all elements of our strategy at work, as we continue our transformation to an earnings-growth company.”
Earnings call later today, will update then
Disclosure (“none” means no position):Long DOW
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