MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - German industrial gases producer Linde AG (LNAGF.PK, LNEGY.PK) said its first-half 2014 profit attributable to shareholders declined to 624 million euros, from 660 million euros, with profit for the period falling year-over-year to 680 million euros, from 715 million euros last year. Six-month earnings per share were 3.36 euros, lower than 3.56 euros, reported a year back.
For the six months to June 30, 2014, Group operating profit in Linde was 1.90 billion euros, not quite as high as the prior-year figure of 1.97 billion euros. Adverse currency fluctuations also need to be considered here. The effect of these distortions was to lower earnings by 101 million euros. In the absence of these distortions, the Group said it would have recorded a 1.7 percent growth in Group operating profit.
During the first half of 2014, Group revenue stood at 8.21 billion euros, almost flat versus last year. As in previous quarters, fluctuations in exchange rates had a significant negative impact on growth trends, the company noted. Adjusting for exchange rate effects, first-half 2014 revenue growth was 5.6 percent.
Linde believes that it is still on track for the full year 2014 and backed its prior outlook: 'In the current financial year, we expect to achieve solid growth in revenue and a moderate improvement in Group operating profit - after adjusting for exchange rate effects,' said Wolfgang, Chief Executive of Linde AG.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX