Latest news with #FrancoisJackow
Reuters
29-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Air Liquide confirms guidance as energy transition, chip sector boost results
July 29 (Reuters) - French industrial gases group Air Liquide ( opens new tab confirmed its margin outlook until 2026 and posted half-year revenue in line with market expectations on Tuesday, reassuring investors after weaker results from other chemical sector players. "The group relies more than ever on diversified growth engines, particularly in the electronics and energy transition sectors," CEO François Jackow said in a statement. Half-year revenue rose 1.8% on a comparable basis to 13.72 billion euros ($15.89 billion), driven by 2.9% growth in the Americas and a 2.1% rise in Asia. That was supported by electronics, semiconductors, and a strong push for energy transition and decarbonisation especially in China, Air Liquide said. It has committed up to $200 million for upgrades in Louisiana and over $50 million to supply ultra-pure gases for the U.S. semiconductor industry, one of many non-U.S. companies to expand their output there amid President Donald Trump's trade war. A certain number of U.S. energy transition projects also continue to move forward in an "extremely solid way", Jackow said during a press call, despite Trump's adverse views on renewables. China, meanwhile, remains "extremely determined" in its decarbonisation trajectory, Jackow added. "We've captured a number of conversions of plants that used coal mainly as an energy source, converted to renewable electricity." Air Liquide, which supplies gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to factories and hospitals, said its operating profit margin rose by 100 basis points (bps) to 19.9% in the first half of 2025. It expects to further raise its margin and deliver recurring net profit growth at constant exchange rates this year. It is aiming to improve the operating margin by 200 bps over the two years to the end of 2026. "Overall, this should be a reassuring print in the context of very weak prints elsewhere in the sector," J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note. Air Liquide's shares were up 2.5% as of 0948 GMT. ($1 = 0.8635 euros)
Reuters
29-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Air Liquide's half-year results meet estimates, confirms margin guidance
July 29 (Reuters) - French industrial gases group Air Liquide ( opens new tab confirmed its margin outlook until 2026 and reported half-year revenue in line with market expectations on Tuesday, citing a favourable energy impact that was mitigated by negative currency effects. "In a market environment that remains uncertain, the Group relies more than ever on diversified growth engines, particularly in the electronics and energy transition sectors," CEO François Jackow said in a statement. The company, which supplies gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to factories and hospitals, said its revenue rose 1.8% on a comparable basis to 13.72 billion euros ($15.89 billion) in the January-June period. Its half-year operating margin rose by 100 basis points (bps), or 1 percentage point, to 19.9% on a reported basis that excluded the energy impact. Analysts polled by Vara Research were expecting a revenue of 13.73 billion euros and an operating margin of 20.2% on average. Air Liquide said it expected to further raise its operating margin and deliver recurring net profit growth at constant exchange rates in 2025, as it aims to improve the operating margin by 200 bps over the two years to the end of 2026. ($1 = 0.8635 euros)
Zawya
21-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Air Liquide lifts mid-term margin target, extends period to end-2026
French industrial gases supplier Air Liquide raised its medium-term operating margin guidance and extended the target period by one year on Friday, after its 2024 sales slightly beat market expectations. Shares of the company, which supplies gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to factories and hospitals, rose 3.6% in early trading. It expects the operating profit margin to rise by 460 basis points (bps), or 4.6 percentage points, between 2022 and 2026, compared with the previous goal of 320 bps rise until the end of 2025. "It is uncharacteristic for Air Liquide to provide a quantitative margin improvement target at the start of the year," analysts said in a note to clients. "That they have chosen to do this now not just for 2025 but also 2026 shows perhaps a higher level of management confidence on the delivery of these targets," they added. Air Liquide said its operating margin, excluding energy impact, had grown by 260 bps so far in the guidance period. Last year's improvement alone was 110 bps, it added. "We are continuing to prepare the future, with sources of growth fueled by our record investment decisions in 2024, reaching 4.4 billion euros ($4.6 billion)," CEO Francois Jackow said in a statement. The company reiterated its guidance for average revenue growth of 5% to 6% per year between 2022 and 2025. The average growth rate stood at 6.5% at the end of last year. It reported revenue of 27.06 billion euros for 2024, up 2.6% on a comparable basis, while recurring operating income margin rose to 19.9%. Analysts polled by Vara Research had expected sales of 27.00 billion euros. Annual net profit was 3.31 billion euros, just below the consensus of 3.34 billion euros. The Paris-listed group also said it would propose a dividend of 3.30 euros per share for 2024, up 13.7% from a year earlier. ($1 = 0.9533 euros)
