Linde achieves growth in a difficult market environment
and increases its dividend

2014 financial year:

Group revenue up 4.5 percent after adjusting for exchange rate effects to EUR 17.047 bn

Group operating profit of EUR 3.920 bn, up 1.0 percent after adjusting for exchange rate effects

Operating cash flow increases by 5.0 percent to EUR 3.301 bn

5.0 percent increase in proposed dividend to EUR 3.15 per share

All divisions make a positive contribution to the business success of The Linde Group

Group outlook for 2015:

Group revenue should increase to between EUR 18.2 bn and EUR 19.0 bn

Group operating profit of between EUR 4.1 bn and EUR 4.3 bn expected

Gases Division - Outlook

Recent economic forecasts indicate that the global gases market will grow at a slightly faster pace in 2015 than was the case in 2014. Linde remains committed to its original target in the gases business of outperforming the market and continuing to increase productivity.

In its on-site business, Linde has a healthy project pipeline which will make a contribution to revenue and earnings in the 2015 financial year and an even more significant contribution to revenue and earnings in subsequent years. The Group is forecasting that its liquefied gases and cylinder gas product areas will perform in line with macroeconomic trends. In the Healthcare product area, stable business trends are expected.

Depending on sector-specific trends and exchange rate movements, Linde is seeking to achieve revenue in the Gases Division in the 2015 financial year of between EUR 14.9 bn and EUR 15.4 bn and operating profit of between EUR 4.05 bn and EUR 4.25 bn.

High order backlog in the Engineering Division

Linde's international engineering project business had a successful year in 2014. Revenue and earnings trends reflected the progress made on individual projects. Revenue in the Engineering Division increased by 7.9 percent to EUR 3.106 bn (2013: EUR 2.879 bn). Operating profit of EUR 300 m was not quite as high as the figure for 2013 of EUR 319 m. The operating margin was 9.7 percent (2013: 11.1 percent), which is well above the industry average and equal to the target Linde had set itself for the 2014 financial year of around 10 percent.

Order intake in 2014 was EUR 3.206 bn (2013: EUR 3.911 bn). The exceptionally high figure for order intake in 2013 included a major contract to build a large ethylene plant for ExxonMobil in Houston, Texas, USA. More than half of the new orders came from Europe. Around 25 percent of the order intake came from North America and just over 10 percent from Asia.

As a result of good trends in order intake, the order backlog in the Engineering Division continued to grow. At 31 December 2014, it stood at EUR 4.672 bn (2013: EUR 4.504 bn).

Engineering Division - Outlook

The market environment in the international large-scale plant construction business in 2015 will be much more volatile than in previous years, mainly as a result of the fall in the oil price. Nevertheless, the Group is well positioned in the olefin plant, natural gas plant, air separation plant and hydrogen and synthesis gas plant product areas and also has a high order backlog.

Linde assumes that it will be able to generate revenue in the Engineering Division in the 2015 financial year of between EUR 3.0 bn and EUR 3.3 bn, with an operating margin of around 8 percent.

"The market environment will continue to be challenging for the foreseeable future, which makes it all the more important for us to pave the way now for profitable growth in the future. With the rigorous implementation of our global Customer Focus Initiative, we will change our structures and significantly accelerate our processes. To achieve this, we are working hard every day on streamlining our organisational procedures, optimising our portfolio and investing in profitable growth areas," concluded Büchele.

The 2014 Annual Report of The Linde Group is available on the Internet at:
http://annual-report.linde.com/financial-report-2014

Source: Linde Group

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