Dow Releases Its 2004 Report to Stockholders
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In his first letter to stockholders since being appointed Dow Chemical president and chief executive officer last November, Andrew Liveris summed up 2004 as a year of significant progress: earnings were up, net debt was down and total shareholder return exceeded most companies in the chemical sector.
"Again in 2004, the unpredictability of the price of oil and natural gas reinforced our conviction that the Company's success would depend on strict adherence to its action plan: controlling the things we could control," Liveris said in his letter. "Given the impact of the things we could not control - in particular, the towering $3.4 billion increase in our feedstock and energy costs (which came on top of the $2.7 billion increase that occurred in 2003) - this action plan played a critical role in our success through the year," he added.
Looking ahead, Liveris went on to explain there would be no fundamental change to Dow's strategy, but said his new leadership team would sharpen its focus in four areas: maintaining financial discipline and low-cost-to-serve capability; setting the standard for sustainability; building a people-centric performance culture; and investing for strategic growth.
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