Jan 29 (Reuters) – Dow will slash about 4,500 jobs, or 13% of its total workforce, under a sweeping restructuring aimed at boosting profitability by at least $2 billion, while projecting first-quarter revenue below expectations on stubbornly weak demand.
Shares of the company fell 3% in premarket trading on Thursday.
Global chemical producers are reassessing their strategies amid stagnant demand, rising production costs in Europe, changing regulatory requirements and persistent global oversupply.
Dow, which began a strategic review of some European assets in 2024, has also been re-evaluating its ownership of non-core assets across its global portfolio, including power and steam production and pipelines.
Last year, the company closed a 40% stake sale in some U.S. Gulf Coast infrastructure assets to a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management for $2.4 billion to focus more on its chemicals business. It later sold an additional stake for $540 million in September.
“In 2025, we achieved well over half of our more than $6.5 billion in near-term cash and cost support actions, including the accelerated delivery of more than $400 million in cost savings from our $1 billion program,” said CEO Jim Fitterling.
Dow, which operates manufacturing sites in 29 countries and employs about 34,600 people, expects to incur about $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion in one-time costs tied to the restructuring in 2026 and 2027.
DOWNBEAT REVENUE EXPECTATIONS
Dow now expects first-quarter net sales of $9.4 billion, below analysts’ average estimate of $10.33 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Net sales in the fourth-quarter ended December 31 for its packaging and specialty plastics segment, its largest by revenue, fell 10.7% to $4.74 billion from a year earlier, due to lower polymer prices.
The Michigan-based company reported a smaller-than-expected adjusted loss of 34 cents per share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of a loss of 46 cents.
(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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