Dow Chemical Net Rises 9.7%

Dow Chemical Co. said Thursday that its profit rose 9.7% to $79 million in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, amid a less-than-normal seasonal increase in demand for chemical products.

Revenue in the fourth quarter totaled $2.7 billion, down 8.1% from the fourth quarter of 1983.

For the 1984 year, Dow Chemical said its profit soared 75.1% from 1983, partly because of favorable market conditions abroad and the sale of half of its oil field services business. Dow reported a profit of $585 million in 1984, compared to $334 million in 1983. Revenue rose 4.3% in 1984 to $11.4 billion from $11 billion in 1983.

Paul F. Oreffice, Dow president and chief executive, said in a statement that the company “did not see a normal seasonal increase in demand for chemical products during the fourth quarter.

“Therefore, we felt it was appropriate to reduce inventories through lower operating rates. We also took care of major maintenance in some of our plants in anticipation of higher business levels in 1985.”

The 1984 results included a gain before taxes of $183 million from the sale of 50% of the Dowell oil field services business to Schlumberger Ltd., a pretax charge of $157 million for the write-down of Dow’s mothballed crude oil processing plant in Freeport, Tex., and a reduction of $71 million due to cancellation of deferred tax obligations, Dow said. The extraordinary gains and charges together increased earnings per share by 59 cents, the company said.