Linde 2Q Profit Falls on Lower Revenue

By Adriano Marchese

Linde PLC on Thursday reported a 12% drop in second-quarter profit, as revenue fell in the period.

The industrial gases and engineering company earned a quarterly profit of $458 million, or 87 cents a share, compared with $522 million, or 96 cents a share, for the same period last year.

Excluding items, Linde reported an adjusted profit of $1.90 a share for the quarter, beating analysts forecasts of $1.65.

Sales fell to $6.38 billion from $7.18 billion.

The company said that in the third quarter, it expects adjusted diluted EPS to be within the range of $1.90 and $1.95.

Meanwhile, for the full year, the company expects this metric to be in the range of $7.60 and $7.80.

"Looking ahead, the full effects of Covid-19 and the rate of recovery are uncertain. However, the growth opportunities for Linde remain strong from our high-quality project backlog, defensive end markets and leading infrastructure and technology in support of the secular trend in clean energy," Chief Executive Officer Steve Angel said.

Write to Adriano Marchese at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2020 06:37 ET (10:37 GMT)

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