Gas giant Linde gets a lift from global rebound

FRANKFURT: German industrial gases giant Linde said Tuesday that a global economic pick-up and cost cuts had given a strong boost to its third quarter sales and net profit.

Linde sales gained 16 percent from the same period a year earlier to 3.3 billion euros (4.6 billion dollars), a statement said, comparable with the 15 percent increase posted by French rival Air Liquide.

Net profit at the German group was nearly 50 percent stronger at 253 million euros.

"We have taken advantage of the economic recovery and our profitability has continued to increase," said chief executive Wolfgang Reitzle said in a statement.

That was especially true for Asia but "the general improvement in the global economic situation also contributed to a further stabilisation of demand in Europe and the US," the company said.

"More mature economies were able to benefit from the rise in exports to the emerging nations," it noted.

Linde's engineering division, which sets up and operates industrial sites, also noted a revival in investment activity, and had recorded 1.54 billion euros in new orders at the end of September, the company said.

For the full year, Linde confirmed its previous forecast for an operating profit that exceeds the record level of 2.56 billion euros reached in 2008.