Westlake Corp. posted a slight drop in sales but higher profit in the second quarter of 2024.
Sales for the quarter at Houston-based Westlake, a maker of commodity resins and construction products, were down about 1 percent to $3.21 billion vs. the same quarter in 2023, as profit moved up more than 5 percent to $323 million.
In a news release, Executive Chairman Albert Chao said improved pricing and profitability were among factors that enabled Westlake to deliver quarterly earnings growth. The improvement followed a slowdown in global macroeconomic activity that began in the second half of 2022.
Westlake's Performance and Essential Materials unit — including PVC and polyethylene resins — saw second-quarter sales drop 6 percent to a little more than $2 billion, with operating profit sliding 27 percent to $157 million.
Sales for the quarter at the firm's Housing and Infrastructure Products unit, including PVC pipe and other construction products, fared better, climbing more than 6 percent to $1.19 billion. That unit's operating profit surged 40 percent to $266 million.
Looking ahead, Chao said conditions in Westlake's HIP segment "should continue to be supported by favorable structural factors, including the decade-long underinvestment in housing that followed the financial crisis … and increasing investments in infrastructure driven by the Infrastructure and Jobs Act."
He added that the firm is taking steps to enhance PEM segment profitability, including temporarily closing two epoxy units in Europe.
In July, Westlake named Jean-Marc Gilson as its president and CEO. Gilson previously served as president and CEO of Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corp. Gilson also previously was executive vice president at Dow Corning Corp., as well as vice chairman and chief operating officer of silicones maker NuSil Technology.
Westlake is a global manufacturer of PVC and polyethylene resins, as well as plastic pipe. The firm employs 16,000 and is No. 3 in Plastics News' North American pipe, profile and tubing extruders ranking with an estimated $2.9 billion in sales of those products.