Linde's 3Q profit up 32 percent on prices, demand

FRANKFURT — Industrial gas and engineering company Linde AG said Monday that demand for its products, including hydrogen used for alternative fuel, is weathering the global financial crisis and boosted its third-quarter net profit by 32 percent.

Munich-based Linde earned 177 million euros ($225.4 million) in the July to September period compared with 134 million euros a year earlier. Sales rose 3.3 percent to 3.1 billion euros ($3.9 billion) from 3 billion euros last year.

Linde engineers and builds chemical and gas plants and produces gases, including hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and argon, for the medical, industrial and scientific fields.

The company's nine-month profit slipped 23 percent, the victim of a series of one-time gains from a year earlier, to 552 million euros ($702.9 million) compared with 723 million euros last year. Sales rose nearly 5 percent to 9.3 billion euros ($11.8 billion) compared with 8.9 billion euros in the first nine months of 2007.

"Our steady business performance is the result of the successful restructuring of our group," said Chief Executive Wolfgang Reitzle in a statement. "The economic crisis has not yet had an impact on us. We are still on track."

Linde also reaffirmed its forecast that sales and earnings would increase this year, though no concrete figures for the year were revealed. Reitzle cited good demand in emerging markets, including Asia, as well as parts of Europe.

The company aims to have operating profit of more than 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) by 2010.

Linde shares closed up 6 percent at 69.01 euros ($87.44) in Frankfurt.

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