Union Carbide See Results Above Expectations

Stronger margins in basic chemicals and polymers and improved performance by ventures should boost earnings.

Author:: Steven Vames
Publish date:: Jan 26, 2000 10:59 AM EST

Stronger margins in basic chemicals and polymers and improved performance by ventures should boost earnings.

Chemical maker

Union Carbide

said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings will be "somewhat" above Wall Street expectations.

In a statement, the company said stronger margins in its basic chemicals and polymers segment and improved performance by some of its business ventures should help the company's earnings beat estimates from

First Call/Thomson Financial

First Call's consensus of 11 analysts forecasts fourth-quarter earnings for Union Carbide of 46 cents per share.

The company will report fourth-quarter earnings on Monday.

In the same period a year ago Carbide's fourth-quarter earnings were $67 million, or 49 cents a share, which included a 31-cent-a-share boost from a patent litigation settlement.

In contrast to this year, the Danbury, Conn.-based company had pre-warned analysts about lower-than-expected earnings last year.

Union Carbide is currently slated to merge with

Dow Chemical

(DOW) - Get Report

. The deal is expected to finish regulatory review by the second quarter of this year.

Union Carbide was up 15/16, or 2%, to 57. (Union Carbide closed up 1/4, or 0.45%, at 56 5/16.)