Dow starts review of some Europe assets, Q3 exceeds estimates

(Reuters) -Chemical company Dow said on Thursday it has begun a review of some of its European assets even as its third-quarter profit beat estimates on higher North America demand for industrial items such as polyethylene used in packaging.

Dow said the review was necessitated by weak demand recovery and competitive regulatory policies. Its shares rose 1.7% to $52.37 in premarket trading.

The company’s review will primarily focus on assets in its polyurethane business, CEO Jim Fitterling said. Dow aims to complete the review by mid-2025.

Lower prices and volumes in polyurethane partly resulted in the underperformance of its industrial intermediates and infrastructure segment, which saw a 2% drop in net sales.

The company said overall demand in Europe and China remained muted.

“Meaningful recovery has yet to materialize in Europe and China. In addition, Europe’s regulatory environment has led to increasing challenges across many sectors and value chains,” Fitterling said.

Quarterly net sales from its packaging and specialty plastics segment, its largest by revenue, rose 1.1% to $5.52 billion, led by higher polyethylene sales for industrial, consumer, and flexible food packaging.

Quarterly revenue rose 1.4% to $10.88 billion, despite operations taking a hit due to Storm Beryl. Analysts on average were expecting $10.65 billion.

Dow said it was reducing low-value merchant order exposure by shutting down its Freeport unit in 2025, which represents about 20% of North America industry capacity.

Its adjusted profit of 47 cents per share exceeded market expectations by a cent, according to data compiled by LSEG.