By Denny Jacob

LyondellBasell swung to a loss in its fourth quarter in the face of seasonally slower demand for some of its core products.

The chemicals company logged a loss of $603 million, or $1.87 a share, compared to $185 million in net income, or 56 cents a share, a year earlier.

The London company recognized identified items of $852 million, net of tax, in the quarter. It noted these items affected earnings by $2.62 a share.

Stripping out certain one-time items, earnings came in at 75 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 72 cents a share.

Sales and other operating revenues declined to around $9.50 billion from $9.93 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $9.22 billion.

LyondellBasell noted that fourth-quarter margins declined across most businesses as costs for natural gas-related feedstocks and natural gas increased while product prices were restrained by seasonally slower demand. Outside of North America, seasonally slower demand for olefins and polyolefins and downtime at its European assets affected volumes and margins.

LyondellBasell said it expects seasonal demand to improve across most businesses in the first quarter. It expects higher consumption of durable goods as interest rates decline and inflation moderates, supporting the company's polypropylene and intermediates and derivatives businesses.

Write to Denny Jacob at denny.jacob@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2025 06:58 ET (11:58 GMT)

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