Dow sales rise

MIDLAND -- Inside: Dow dignitaries and happy shareholders.

                  Outside: Protesters and malcontents.

So went the lineup during Dow Chemical Co.'s annual meeting Thursday at the Midland Center for the Arts, as about 600 people gathered to cheer and boo the industry giant.

Coming off a record-setting year for sales and profits, company executives exuded the kind of confidence that is rare in these parts as the Delphi Corp. bankruptcy looms large.

President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris beamed over Dow's $46 billion annual sales mark -- a 15 percent increase from 2004. "We a-chieved these results despite the economic turmoil caused by the natural disasters and despite an increase in hydrocarbon and energy costs of a staggering $4 billion," he said.

Even so, last month Dow posted a 10 percent drop in first-quarter earnings as the rising cost of raw materials offset a modest uptick in sales.

Net income fell to $1.21 billion, or $1.24 per share, from $1.35 billion, or $1.39 per share, in the previous-year period.

Dow officials blamed the showing on an $800 million increase in chemical ingredients and energy costs.

The company still managed to declare a 37.5 cents per share dividend for shareholders in the first quarter of 2006, which Liveris proudly said is the business' 379th consecutive cash dividend.

Development of technology that uses soybeans to create polyurethane is at least one investment Dow executives hope will continue the company's growth.

During the meeting, shareholders also considered resolutions related to Dow studying the 1984 toxic gas leak in Bhopal, India, and the potential for adverse impacts from its products.

Stockholders overwhelmingly voted against the measures.

Lauren Compere, director of shareholder advocacy for Boston Common Asset Management, said it is a "good business decision" for Dow to undertake new initiatives to address the needs of Bhopal survivors.

"Boston Common Asset Management has been pushing Dow Chemical for more than three years to address the cleanup and medical concerns of the Bhopal survivors, and Dow has still not stepped up to the plate while the risks to the company's reputation and to its ability to do business in India may be increasing," she said before the meeting.

Alan G. Hevesi, sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, said the same.

"As a fiduciary, I am concerned that if Dow does not put this problem to rest, it could hurt the company's current and future business relationships in India's huge and rapidly expanding market and around the world."

Liveris disagreed and said Dow, like the rest of the world, is saddened that thousands lost their lives in the Bhopal incident. But he said Dow is in no way responsible because it didn't own the plant at the time.

The gas leak that killed at least 10,000 people happened under Union Carbide Corp.'s watch. Liveris also noted that Union Carbide reached a $470 million settlement with the Indian government to resolve its liability.

His denial, however, didn't stop one critic from offering Liveris a literal glass of water from Bhopal.

"We reject the water," as well as repeated attempts to link Dow with the tragedy, Liveris said. v