PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French industrial and medical gases maker Air Liquide SA (AIQUY) reported Thursday that its first-half net profit group share increased 12.5 percent from the prior year to 849 million euros.
Group revenues increased 8.1 percent year-over-year to 8.12 billion euros with growth across all geographies. On a comparable basis, revenues grew 3.2 percent.
Operating margin went up 70 basis points to 17.4 percent
Commenting on the first half, Benoît Potier, Chairman and CEO, stated, 'In an uncertain global economic environment, Air Liquide delivered sustained growth over the first half of 2015. It was driven by the strong performance of our Healthcare and Electronics businesses, by the developing economies, by a favourable currency impact, and by a quarter on quarter improvement in Large Industries.'
Looking ahead, the company said again that assuming a comparable economic environment, it is confident in its ability to deliver another year of net profit growth in 2015.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX