Industrial gases producer Linde increased third-quarter sales by 9 per cent, supported by both prices and volume. Reported net income fell, while earnings adjusted for selected charges rose. Operating cash flow strengthened and the project backlog reached 11 billion dollars. The company set out fourth-quarter earnings guidance and annual investment plans alongside uneven regional sales growth.
Linde, the industrial gases and engineering company, increased third-quarter sales by 9 per cent to about 9.4 billion dollars. Adjusted earnings per share also rose 9 per cent, reaching 4.59 dollars. The company supplies customers in electronics, chemicals, energy, manufacturing and other industries.[1], [2]
Underlying sales increased 5 per cent, comprising 3 per cent pricing and 2 per cent volume. Reported net income nevertheless declined 12 per cent to 1.692 billion dollars and diluted earnings fell 11 per cent to 3.66 dollars per share. Adjusted net income, excluding acquisition accounting and selected cost-reduction and other charges, rose 7 per cent to 2.122 billion dollars. Adjusted operating profit reached 2.763 billion dollars, with a margin of 29.4 per cent.[1]
Operating cash flow rose 8 per cent to 3.169 billion dollars, with free cash flow of 1.777 billion dollars after investment spending. The total project backlog stood at 11 billion dollars, including 7.9 billion dollars of contractual gas supply projects. For Linde, Americas sales were 3.601 billion dollars. Asia Pacific sales reached 1.950 billion dollars and sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa totalled 2.327 billion dollars. The engineering business recorded sales of 582 million dollars.[1]
