Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 1.66 percent to $2,188 million from $2,225 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 20 basis points over the previous year period to 23.08 percent. Total expenses were 87.52 percent of quarterly revenues, down from 92.27 percent for the same period last year. This has led to an improvement of 475 basis points in operating margin to 12.48 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $273 million, compared with $172 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $336 million compared to $343 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted operating margin contracted 6 basis points in the quarter to 15.36 percent from 15.42 percent in the last year period.

"While the global business environment in 2016 was challenging, we remained focused on execution of our specialty transformation strategy," said Mark Costa, Board Chair and chief executive officer. "We delivered volume growth in our specialty product lines, continued mix improvement particularly in Advanced Materials driven by double-digit growth of our innovative, high-margin products, and continued aggressive cost management. We remain confident in the resiliency of our portfolio and the sustainability of our strong cash flow going forward."

Operating cash flow declines
Eastman Chemical Company has generated cash of $1,385 million from operating activities during the year, down 14.72 percent or $239 million, when compared with the last year.

The company has spent $655 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $693 million in the last year.

The company has spent $838 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $844 million in the last year period.

Cash and cash equivalents stood at $181 million as on Dec. 31, 2016.