Industrial gases major Linde shrugged off a “stagnant” period of industrial activity to post a 24% rise in third quarter net income to $1.9bn, up $379m year-on-year.
Quarterly operating profit totalled $2.4bn on the back of strong sales of $8.6bn.
CEO Sanjiv Lamba said while Linde remains guarded on any near-term industrial recovery, he was confident its “time-tested capital allocation policy and disciplined investment approach will continue to value.”
Americas sales of $3.8bn were up 6% on 2024, leading to an operating profit of $1.2bn, while APAC sales of $1.7bn were up 1% on last year.
Compared with third quarter 2024, underlying sales decreased 1%, driven by stable volumes but 1% lower pricing, primarily due to helium’s value shrinking due to cheaper Russian supply being sold into Asia primarily.
Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) sales of $2.1bn were up 3% versus prior year, yielding an operating profit of $781m.
In September Linde increased its shareholding in the Dubai-based industrial gases company Airtec from 49% to over 90%, strengthening its position across the Gulf region.
Linde Engineering was one of the few blackspots, with sales of $519m, down 15% versus prior year. Order intake for the quarter was $269m and third-party sale of equipment backlog totalled $2.9bn.
Recently Linde started up a new air separation unit (ASU) near Charleston, Tennessee, to support increased demand along the Interstate 75 corridor.
Air Liquide’s published group revenue for the third quarter fell 2.4%, which it attributed to currency impacts and lower energy prices. It cited hydrogen as a core growth driver and remains bullish on US blue hydrogen projects.
This story will be updated