Air Liquide beats profit forecast

French industrial gases firm Air Liquide on Tuesday doubled its 2025 margin target after posting better-than-expected annual operating profit, sending its shares to an all-time high in late morning trading.

The supplier of gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to factories and hospitals now targets a 320 basis points (bp) operating margin by 2025, up 100% from the 160bp it had expected two years ago as part of its Advance strategic plan.

“Have we been too conservative? Absolutely not,” CEO François Jackow said, adding that the previous targets were based on historical models. The firm did not provide a precise forecast in operating margin for 2024.

Jackow said the group’s performance came from offering “value-adding” pricing solutions and optimising operational performance.

Air Liquide hiked prices by 8% in its industrial merchants business in 2023.

The stock jumped 5.8% by 11.01am GMT, hitting a record high of €182.7.

Recurring operating income rose 11.4% on a comparable basis to €5.07bn ($5.48bn) in 2023, above the €5.02bn expected by analysts polled by Vara Research.

Air Liquide recorded 5.1% revenue growth in its Gas & Services in North America in 2023, which accounts for 96% of its business.

The company was chosen in October as a partner for six out of seven planned clean hydrogen hubs by the US department of energy, which will allocate $7bn for the projects within a bipartisan infrastructure law.

“These are long-term projects, which will take place over the next five or 10 years,” Jackow noted, adding that, in the event of a change in the US administration, Air Liquide is “looking at different scenarios, different timetables for the development of these activities”.

COMPANY’S SHARES SOARED TO RECORD HIGH IN LATE MORNING TRADE