Industrial gases firm Air Liquide's Q3 revenue drops as energy prices ease

Oct 25 (Reuters) - French industrial gases firm Air Liquide (AIRP.PA) posted a 17.4% drop in third-quarter revenue as energy prices eased from the previous year. Excluding energy and currency effects, its revenue rose 1.5%.

Energy prices fell year-on-year after spiking following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the euro strengthened to the U.S. dollar in the July-September quarter.

The company's third-quarter revenue reached 6.81 billion euros ($7.2 billion), in line with Vara Research analysts' forecast of 6.79 billion euros.

The large industries segment, which is one of the company's biggest contributors to sales, posted a 39.5% annual drop. However, excluding energy and currency effects, it fell just 1.7%.

The unit, which provides gas to customers in heavy industries such as metals and chemicals, was hit by low customer turnaround and relatively slow demand, Air Liquide said.

INVESTMENTS

"In 2023, Air Liquide is confident in its ability to further increase its operating margin and to deliver recurring net profit growth, at constant exchange rates," company chief executive François Jackow said in a statement.

The firm plans to spend 3.4 billion euros on investments over the next 12 months, with about half of them in the energy transition field.

Air Liquide, one of the largest hydrogen producers in the world, is seen as a beneficiary of the global energy transition, supported by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the EU's net-zero emissions programme .

The French company, with 60 years of experience in hydrogen production, was chosen as a partner for six out of seven planned clean hydrogen hubs by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), which will allocate $7 billion for the projects. The hubs are set to be the basis for the country's future clean hydrogen network.

($1 = 0.9430 euros)

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