Praxair, the largest company with an earnings rise, saw earnings improve 11% to $126 million. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dennis H. Reilley says, "Despite weak demand for industrial gases in the U.S., our strong business portfolio delivered record results," driven by significant price increases, good demand growth outside the U.S., and improved earnings in the company's high-performance coatings application business.

	REINHARD

In contrast, Dow Chemical had an earnings decline of 55% to $234 million. Dow is the new industry sales leader--now that it has Union Carbide in the fold--with some $500 million more in sales in the first quarter than DuPont. According to J. Pedro Reinhard, Dow's chief financial officer, "This has been one of the most challenging quarters for the North American chemical industry and for Dow. We are dealing with a unique situation brought on not just by persistently high oil prices, but also by an unprecedented environment of high and volatile gas prices in North America."

DuPont had its own problems, causing earnings to fall 37% to $567 million. One of the problems was the pharmaceuticals unit, which DuPont already had put up for sale; it accounted for about one-third of the earnings decline due to lower sales as wholesalers continued to reduce inventories.

PPG Industries, with a 27% decline in earnings to $127 million, is just one of the companies taking steps to counter the downturn. Chairman and CEO Raymond W. LeBoeuf says, "Likelihood of the difficult economy in which we now find ourselves became clear to us more than seven months ago." Thus PPG has taken a $71 million after-tax restructuring charge, which is not included in the $127 million in earnings. According to LeBoeuf, about two-thirds of this charge reflects a workforce reduction of nearly 1,500 people, or about 4% of the company's worldwide employment.

W.R. Grace, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, had earnings decline 40% to $14.6 million as sales increased 3% to $396 million. Chairman, President, and CEO Paul J. Norris says, "Our decision on April 2 to seek Chapter 11 protection as a way to define and resolve asbestos-related claims was executed with no disruption to our customers. We continue to remain focused on growth and productivity and are anticipating a stronger second half of the year."

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Chemical earnings Most firms turn in dismal performances
FIRST-QUARTER 2001
	SALES	EARNINGSa	CHANGE FROM 2000		PROFIT MARGINb
	($ MILLIONS)		SALES	EARNINGS	2001	2000
Air Products	$1,498.3	$118.3	11%	–11%	7.9%	9.9%
Albemarle	224.4	22.5	–5	–21	10.0	12.1
Crompton	737.9	15.8	–4	–47	2.1	3.9
Cytec Industries	376.1	17.2	2	–46	4.6	8.7
Dow Chemical	7,386.0	233.5	2	–55	3.2	7.1
DuPont	6,859.0	567.0	–10	–37	8.3	11.8
FMC	876.6	18.2	–13	–45	2.1	3.3
H. B. Fuller	306.9	5.5	–5	–43	1.8	3.0
W.R. Grace	395.7	14.6	3	–40	3.7	6.3
Lubrizol	453.8	18.5	2	–39	4.1	6.8
Monsanto	1,306.0	68.0	–1	1	5.2	5.1
NL Industries	226.1	27.7	–2	17	12.3	10.3
PPG Industries	2,099.0	127.0	–2	–27	6.1	8.1
Praxair	1,335.0	126.0	9	11	9.4	9.3
Rohm and Haas	1,688.0	64.0	–4	–53	3.8	7.6
Stepan	176.9	3.6	1	–16	2.0	2.5
a After-tax earnings from continuing operations, excluding significant nonrecurring and extraordinary items. b After-tax earnings as a percentage of sales.

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