Linde Raises Annual Profit Forecast as Sales Growth Accelerates
The industrial gas company raised its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance to a range of $17.70 to $17.90.
Linde (LIN) reported second-quarter sales of $9.3 billion, representing a 9% increase year over year.
The industrial gas maker saw a notable acceleration in growth compared to the same period last year, when sales rose 3%. This trajectory was supported by a shift in underlying sales growth, which reached 4% in the second quarter, driven by an equal split between price and volume increases. In the second quarter of 2024, underlying sales growth was 1%, as price gains were offset by a 1% decline in volume.
Adjusted earnings per share grew 10% to $4.50. This pace of growth exceeded the 6% increase reported in the second quarter of 2024.
Profitability margins tightened slightly as the company faced macroeconomic pressures. The adjusted operating profit margin for the second quarter was 29.5%, down from 30.1% a year earlier. The 60-basis-point decline occurred because cost inflation offset the gains from productivity initiatives and pricing.
Regional performance showed a recovery in international markets. Underlying sales growth in the Asia-Pacific region accelerated to 8%, driven by a 6% increase in volumes, up from 6% growth in the first quarter. In the EMEA region, underlying sales turned positive at 1%, recovering from a 2% decrease in the first quarter. Linde Engineering sales rose 13% year over year to $625 million, reversing an 8% decline reported in the first quarter.
The company raised its full-year 2024 adjusted earnings per share guidance to a range of $17.70 to $17.90, representing 8% to 9% growth. This is an increase from the $17.60 to $17.90 range provided in the first quarter.
Linde also increased its full-year capital expenditure guidance to between $5.5 billion and $6.0 billion, up from the previous range of $5.0 billion to $5.5 billion. Its contractual sale of gas project backlog reached a record $8.1 billion, an increase from the $7.1 billion reported in both the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2023.