WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Industrial gases company Praxair, Inc. (PX) Wednesday reported a sharp increase in fourth-quarter profit, as sales grew 7 percent, helped mainly by higher volumes and prices. The board has authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $1.5 billion and boosted its quarterly dividend. In the fourth quarter, the company's net income surged to $420 million or $1.38 per share from $133 million or $0.43 per share reported a year ago. The company noted that the recent-quarter results included a gain on an acquisition and charges relating to severance and business restructuring actions, mainly in Europe. On an adjusted basis, net income for the quarter climbed to $414 million or $1.36 per share from $388 million or $1.25 per share in the previous year. On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.37 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Sales for the quarter rose 7 percent to $2.8 billion from $2.62 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts estimated revenues of $2.84 billion for the quarter. The company attributed increase in sales to higher volumes and prices, partially offset by negative currency translation. Steve Angel, chairman and chief executive officer of the company said, 'In 2011, Praxair again delivered strong growth combined with industry-leading profitability. We signed a record amount of new contracts in 2011 and finished the year with a backlog of $2.7 billion of new projects under construction which will come on-stream in 2012, 2013, and 2014.' Looking ahead to the first quarter, the company expects earnings per share to be in the range of $1.33 to $1.38 which includes a negative year-over-year currency impact of about $0.07 at current exchange rates. Analysts expect the company to earn $1.41 per share for the quarter. For the full year of 2012, Praxair expects earnings per share to be in the range of $5.70 to $5.90. Sales are expected to be in the area of $11.7 to $12 billion, up 4 to 7 percent from last year. Analysts are looking for earnings of $5.99 per share on revenues of $12.10 billion for the year. Separately, Praxair said its board has authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $1.5 billion of its common stock. The repurchases may take place from time to time on the open market. The current $1.5 billion repurchase program in effect since July 2010 has been substantially completed, the company said. In addition, the board has declared a quarterly dividend of 55 cents per share, up 10 percent from last year, to shareholders of record on March 7, 2012, payable on March 15. PX closed Tuesday's regular trading at $109.10 on the NYSE.
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