DOW +4.5% pre market 70k...traded so far...
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.65 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.22 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.43; revenues rose 3.4% year/year to $14.39 bln vs the $14.13 bln consensus.
Sales increased in all operating segments, excluding Feedstocks and Energy. Gains were led by record fourth quarter revenue in Agricultural Sciences (up 13%), Coatings and Infrastructure Solutions (up 10%) and Performance Plastics (up 8%) on an adjusted basis. Volume rose 2%, or 3% on an adjusted basis versus the same quarter last year. Gains were reported in most operating segments and geographic areas.
Volume growth was led by emerging geographies, which increased 7%, driven by Latin America (up 13%). Volume gains were also reported in the United States (up 3%).
Price increased 1%, primarily due to gains in Performance Plastics (up 7%) and Performance Materials (up 1%) partially offset by declines in Feedstocks and Energy (down 6%).
The Company's previously announced cost actions gained further traction in the quarter, enabling Dow to exceed its $500 million target for the year.
Board of Directors has declared a 15% increase in the first quarter dividend, from $0.32 per share to $0.37 per share. In line with its stated priorities, the Company also announced that it has expanded its authorized share buy-back program to $4.5 billion from $1.5 billion of common stock to be completed in 2014.
"We generated significant earnings growth, margin expansion and return on capital improvement through Dow-specific actions that gained momentum throughout 2013. Our focus in running a disciplined, integrated strategy, and managing our portfolio with targeted growth and productivity metrics by business and value chain was clearly evident in the quarter -- demonstrated by the EBITDA gains we achieved across every operating segment."
DOW CEO just now said co is open to all suggestions when asked about Third Point's (Dan Loeb) activism pushing for a spin-off of its petro-chemical business... co has been resturcuting/divesting.