Linde plc, a leading global supplier of industrial gases, reported impressive first-quarter 2023 financial results, exceeding analysts’ expectations. The company’s quarterly revenues of $8,193 million also beat market estimates.
Revenue Performance
Linde’s total revenues for the quarter declined from the year-ago quarter’s $8,211 million. However, the company’s strong earnings were driven by increased prices and volumes across the beverage and manufacturing, and food end markets.
Segmental Performance
Linde’s operating profit in the Americas segment rose 13.4% year over year to $1,025 million, primarily due to increased pricing and volumes in the beverage and manufacturing, and food end markets.
The EMEA segment’s profit increased 20.7% year over year to $607 million, mainly due to an uptick in pricing, partially offset by a decrease in volumes.
Profit in the APAC segment increased 6% year over year to $423 million, primarily due to an uptick in prices and volumes in the chemicals, electronics, and energy end markets, comprising project start-ups.
The Engineering segment’s operating profit also increased to $149 million from the prior year’s $143 million.
Backlogs
Linde reported a high-quality backlog of $7.7 billion at the end of the first quarter, comprising a sale-of-gas backlog of $4.2 billion.
Capital Investment & Balance Sheet
Linde reported a capital expenditure of $829 million for the March quarter. The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $4.96 billion and long-term debt of $11.7 billion.
Earnings Per Share
The company’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $3.42, indicating a year-over-year improvement from $2.93.