Dow Chemical Earnings Call Highlights

Here are the notable from the earnings call on Wednesday regarding the Dow 's (DOW) future, the joint Venture Strategy (Asset Light)

Joint Ventures

-Equity earnings (JV's) for the quarter were up 11% from a year ago to $258 million; -Year-to-date they climbed more than 30% to $532 million.
-Cash contributions from joint ventures were also up significantly in the second quarter compared with a year ago.
-Cash contributions to these joint ventures so far this year have been minimal, as their activities are in fact largely self-funded.
-Given the importance of joint ventures to future strategy, Dow will be providing more detailed information on how they are performing
-Before the end of the third quarter they will issue a white paper offering greater clarity around Dow's joint venture strategy and more insight to the dynamics that shape equity earnings.
-Dow currently participates in more than 75 joint ventures
-A relatively small proportion of them have significant impact on financial results. -Principal joint ventures include
about a dozen companies and collectively accounted for more than 90% of equity earnings last year
-These joint ventures will be the focus of the upcoming white paper, which they plan to update annually.
-Joint ventures added significantly to the bottom line in Performance Chemicals

Responding to the question, "Andrew, are you pushing the ball forward on doing a MEGlobal type deal in your U.S. basics? Liveris replied, "I remain committed to making it a transformational year in the company. I also remain committed to do the very best for our shareholders so that we don't just do any deal. And we have been working very hard and doing deals that we fit. MEGlobal is a classic example of a deal that fits. Similarly, some of these projects we have announced I think fit that criteria. And we have a very powerful basics franchise that we're not just going to monetize with short-term endeavors. We're going to marry and joint venture because it makes strategic sense and improves the returns and cash flows to our shareholders. As you can see in the transparency that Bob Koort referred to in our JVs, these are tremendously strong cash flow, high-return enterprises we're setting up, and you ain't seen nothing yet. And the answer to your question is yes, we are working diligently on the right deal for the right reasons."

I love it.. "you aint't seen nothing yet"...


Full transcript may be found at seekingalpha.com