Linde Reports Second-Quarter 2025 Results

Business Wire

4 days ago

WOKING, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Linde plc (Nasdaq: LIN) today reported second-quarter 2025 net income of $1,766 million and diluted earnings per share of $3.73, up 6% and up 8%, respectively. Excluding Linde AG purchase accounting impacts, adjusted net income was $1,937 million, up 4% versus prior year. Adjusted earnings per share was $4.09, 6% above prior year.
Linde's sales for the second quarter were $8,495 million, up 3% versus prior year. Compared to prior year, underlying sales increased 1% from 2% price attainment partially offset by 1% lower volumes largely driven by the manufacturing end market.
Second-quarter operating profit was $2,354 million. Adjusted operating profit of $2,556 million was up 6% versus prior year led by higher price and continued productivity initiatives across all segments. Adjusted operating profit margin of 30.1% was 80 basis points above prior year.
Second-quarter operating cash flow of $2,211 million increased 15% versus prior year. After capital expenditures of $1,257 million, free cash flow was $954 million. During the quarter, the company returned $1,811 million to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases, net of issuances.
Commenting on the financial results and business outlook, Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Lamba said, 'For the second quarter, Linde once again demonstrated strong resiliency as our employees delivered high-quality results against a muted industrial economy. EPS grew 6% and operating margins expanded 80 basis points versus prior year. In addition, we continue to secure future, contractual growth with the addition of several new wins to the project backlog, including another long-term agreement to supply gases to a world-scale low-carbon ammonia facility in the U.S. Gulf Coast. The current $7.1 billion sale-of-gas backlog will ensure attractive growth for years to come, and I'm confident in our ability to add even more high-quality projects, especially in the electronic and clean energy end markets.'
'For the second half of 2025, we maintain a more measured view of the underlying macro trends. But regardless of this economic outlook, we will continue to generate long-term shareholder value.'
For the third quarter of 2025, Linde expects adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $4.10 to $4.20, up 4% to 7% versus prior-year quarter, or 3% to 6% when excluding 1% of estimated currency tailwind.
For the full-year 2025, the company expects adjusted diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $16.30 to $16.50, up 5% to 6% versus prior year, or 4% to 5% when excluding 1% of estimated currency tailwind. Full-year capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $5.0 billion to $5.5 billion to support growth and maintenance requirements including the $7.1 billion contractual sale of gas project backlog.
Second-Quarter 2025 Results by Segment
Americas sales of $3,812 million were up 4% versus prior year. Compared with second quarter 2024, underlying sales increased 4%, driven by 3% higher pricing and 1% higher volumes, primarily in the chemicals & energy end market. Operating profit of $1,209 million was 31.7% of sales, flat versus prior year.
APAC (Asia Pacific) sales of $1,655 million were flat versus prior year. Compared with second quarter 2024, underlying sales decreased 1%, driven by stable pricing and 1% lower volumes, primarily in the manufacturing end market. Operating profit of $490 million was 29.6% of sales, 100 basis points above prior year.
EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) sales of $2,162 million were up 3% versus prior year. Compared with second quarter 2024, underlying sales decreased 1%, driven by 3% higher pricing that was more than offset by 4% lower volumes, primarily in the metals & mining and manufacturing end markets. Operating profit of $780 million was 36.1% of sales, 240 basis points above prior year.
Linde Engineering sales were $551 million, up 1% versus prior year, and operating profit was $90 million or 16.3% of sales. Order intake for the quarter was $311 million and third-party sale of equipment backlog was $3.2 billion.
Earnings Call
A teleconference on Linde's second-quarter 2025 results is being held today at 9:00 am EDT.
Materials to be used in the teleconference are also available on the website.
About Linde
Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2024 sales of $33 billion. We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain, decarbonize and protect our planet.
The company serves a variety of end markets such as chemicals & energy, food & beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and mining. Linde's industrial gases and technologies are used in countless applications including production of clean hydrogen and carbon capture systems critical to the energy transition, life-saving medical oxygen and high-purity & specialty gases for electronics. Linde also delivers state-of-the-art gas processing solutions to support customer expansion, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.
For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.linde.com
Adjusted amounts, free cash flow and return on capital are non-GAAP measures. See the attachments for a summary of non-GAAP reconciliations and calculations for adjusted amounts.
Attachments: Summary Non-GAAP Reconciliations, Statements of Income, Balance Sheets, Statements of Cash Flows, Segment Information and Appendix: Non-GAAP Measures and Reconciliations.
*Note: We are providing adjusted earnings per share ('EPS') guidance for 2025. This is a non-GAAP financial measure that represents diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (a GAAP measure) but excludes the impact of certain items that we believe are not representative of our underlying business performance, such as cost reduction and other charges, the impact of potential divestitures or other potentially significant items. Given the uncertainty of timing and magnitude of such items, we cannot provide a reconciliation of the differences between the non-GAAP adjusted EPS guidance and the corresponding GAAP EPS measure without unreasonable effort.
Forward-looking Statements
This document contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as: anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, expect, continue, should, could, may, plan, project, predict, will, potential, forecast, and similar expressions. They are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date the statements are made but involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: the performance of stock markets generally; developments in worldwide and national economies and other international events and circumstances, including trade conflicts and tariffs; changes in foreign currencies and in interest rates; the cost and availability of electric power, natural gas and other raw materials; the ability to achieve price increases to offset cost increases; catastrophic events including natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics such as COVID-19 and acts of war and terrorism; the ability to attract, hire, and retain qualified personnel; the impact of changes in financial accounting standards; the impact of changes in pension plan liabilities; the impact of tax, environmental, healthcare and other legislation and government regulation in jurisdictions in which the company operates; the cost and outcomes of investigations, litigation and regulatory proceedings; the impact of potential unusual or non-recurring items; continued timely development and market acceptance of new products and applications; the impact of competitive products and pricing; future financial and operating performance of major customers and industries served; the impact of information technology system failures, network disruptions and breaches in data security; and the effectiveness and speed of integrating new acquisitions into the business. These risks and uncertainties may cause future results or circumstances to differ materially from adjusted projections, estimates or other forward-looking statements.
Linde plc assumes no obligation to update or provide revisions to any forward-looking statement in response to changing circumstances. The above listed risks and uncertainties are further described in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Linde plc's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the SEC on February 26, 2025 which should be reviewed carefully. Please consider Linde plc's forward-looking statements in light of those risks.