Linde's decent Q3 profit
October 29, 2012
German industrial gases group Linde on Monday reported a strong rise in earnings and sales for the third quarter. The DAX-listed blue chip saw its net profit rise by 7.9 percent to well over 300 million euros ($400 million) from July to September, while sales in the same period soared by 31.2 percent to almost 3,900 million euros.
"Business continued to develop stably, with sales and operating profit rising again as per end of September," Linde Chief Executive Wolfgang Reitzle said in a statement.
In the first nine months of the year, the firm's net profit advanced by 5.5 percent, with sales up 8.4 percent.
Global leader
Linde said its recent takeover of US medical gas specialist Lincare had already proven a profit-boosting measure. "The newly acquired business has given us an even more robust starting point," CEO Wolfgang Reitzle commented.
Investors welcomed Linde's third-quarter report and made the company's shares the only gainers in early Monday trading at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
With the acquisition of Lincare and the takeover earlier this year of US Air Products' medical gas business, Linde has become the world's top maker in the medigas field, toppling French rival Air Liquide from first position.
hg/jr (dapd, AFP, Reuters)