PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French industrial and medical gases maker Air Liquide SA (AIQUY) reported Friday a 7 percent growth in group revenues for the first quarter, that reflected improved performance in gas & services segment and positive currency impact. Comparable growth was 3.0 percent. Looking ahead, the company sees another year of net profit growth in 2015.
'Growth this quarter was driven by the dynamism of Healthcare and Electronics, and by developing economies, especially China where sales rose by nearly +20% on a comparable basis,' Chairman and CEO Benoît Potier said in a statement.
Group revenue for the first quarter increased 7 percent to 3.99 billion euros from 3.73 billion euros last year. On a comparable basis, adjusted for the positive currency and negative energy impacts, revenues increased 3.0 percent.
The company noted that the positive currency effect of 7.3 percent was partly offset by a negative energy impact of 3.6 percent, which was particularly evident in large Industries.
Large Industries' quarterly revenue edged up 0.2 percent on a comparable basis, benefiting from the ramp-up of new production units in both China and South America and a gradual recovery in volumes from late March in North America after temporary plant turnarounds of several customer.
Gas & services segment revenues increased 6.3 percent to 3.63 billion euros. On a comparable basis, it grew 2.6 percent as all gas & services business lines reported growth. In the quarter, revenue from Gas & Services for Industry in developing economies rose 9.4 percent on a comparable basis.
Industrial Merchant's revenues also edged up 0.3 percent on a comparable basis, benefiting from continued strong volume growth in Southeast Asia and in China, positive pricing of 1.1 percent, and improvement in bulk sales in Europe.
Healthcare revenues increased 6.8 percent on a comparable basis, benefiting from increased demand for home healthcare services as well as higher hygiene and specialty ingredient sales. Growth was also supported by several acquisitions in Europe and in Canada.
In Electronics business, revenues grew 14.4 percent on a comparable basis, boosted by growth in all of its product lines, with particularly vigorous sales in China, Taiwan, Japan, and the U.S. Advanced materials revenue surged 49 percent.
Engineering and Technology revenue improved 16.4 percent on a comparable basis, reflecting the steady progress of projects under execution for third-party customers.
In Paris, Air Liquide shares closed Thursday's trading session at 121.10 euros, down 1.95 euros on a volume of 1.09 million shares.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX