WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Westlake Corporation (WLK), a maker of petrochemicals, polymers, fabricated building products, and others, on Tuesday reported a net loss for the fourth quarter, hurt by special items. The company also registered a drop in sales due to decreased sales volumes and prices.
For the three-month period to December 31, 2025, the company recorded a net loss of $544 million, or $4.22 per share, compared with a profit of $7 million, or $0.06 per share, in the same period last year.
The company's net loss reflects $393 million of charges related to the shutdown of three North American chlorovinyls plants and one styrene plant and $102 million of accrued expenses related to the Pernis shutdown as well as $16 million of restructuring and related expenses in HIP segment for a combined $511 million impact.
Excluding items, loss was $33 million, or $0.25 per share, compared with a profit of $7 million, or $0.06 per share, a year ago.
Loss from operations stood at $671 million as against the prior year's earnings of $66 million.
Westlake recorded sales of $2.533 billion, less than $2.843 billion a year ago. This decline was mainly due to a 7% fall in sales volume and a 4% drop in average sales price.
Looking ahead, Jean-Marc Gilson, CEO of Westlake, said: 'For 2026 our priority is to achieve the PEM profitability improvement plan's targeted $600 million in EBITDA improvement while growing HIP's sales and earnings, which are expected to benefit from the January 2026 acquisition of ACI. We are not expecting macroeconomic conditions to be a tailwind to our 2026 goals as global industrial and manufacturing activity remains challenging.'
WLK was up by 2.12% at $95 in the pre-market trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
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