On Thursday, Dow announced a smaller-than-expected decline in its fourth-quarter results, as the American chemicals giant's margins benefited from its ongoing cost-cutting program.

Over the last three months of the year, operating profit fell to $1.22 billion, or 43 cents per share, compared with $1.25 billion (46 cents) a year earlier.

By way of comparison, the consensus was for EPS of around 40 cents.

The Michigan-based group points out that the fall in sales prices was partially offset by higher volumes.

At the same time, its gross margin improved to 5.3%, compared with 5.1% a year earlier, thanks to the achievement of the company's annual savings target of $1 billion.

Sales were down by 10%, but at $10.6 billion, they also exceeded the consensus figure of $10.4 billion.

Following this better-than-expected publication, Dow shares - which are listed on the Dow Jones index - rose by almost 2% on Thursday in early trading on Wall Street.

Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.