Air Liquide benefited from a strong recovery in the 3rd quarter, with a 17.2% jump in sales bringing the increase in sales for the first nine months of the year to 9.4%, marked by major investments in hydrogen and the energy transition.
Air Liquide
From July to September, the French industrial gases group posted sales of 5.83 billion euros, bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to 16.7 billion euros.
“All activities are progressing, whether in gas and services in all regions of the world, engineering and construction, or global markets and technologies, in a more buoyant market environment,” said Group CEO Benoît Potier, quoted in a press release.
In Q3, investment decisions reached a high level of 873 million euros, or 2.8 billion euros since January.
A third of these were related to the energy transition, including several projects to decarbonize heavy industry using hydrogen, notably in the Normandy industrial basin.
The Group has also announced the launch of the world’s largest fund dedicated to decarbonized infrastructure, in partnership with TotalEnergies, Vinci and other international groups.
Developing the use of hydrogen in air transport
Air Liquide has launched a partnership with Airbus and Vinci to develop the use of hydrogen in aviation.
With Siemens Energy, it has also announced a project to build a renewable hydrogen production unit in Germany – where its main competitor Linde is based – which will be connected to Air Liquide’s local pipeline infrastructure.
The press release also mentions an as yet unpublicized “investment project” for a “large-scale hydrogen and carbon monoxide production unit incorporating CO2 recycling”, without mentioning the country.
The world’s largest hydrogen station
The Group plans to equip the world’s largest hydrogen station in Beijing, as well as a contract with Shadang in China to build and operate a low-carbon air gas unit.
In South Korea, we have teamed up with SK E&S to build the world’s largest hydrogen liquefaction plant for the transport sector.
Faced with the sharp rise in energy prices in recent months, Air Liquide has been protected by its business model, which enables it to pass on energy costs to its customers in large-scale industry as part of its contractual policy.
Its energy purchases account for 50% of its total purchases.
Slight decline in sales in Asia
In Asia, Air Liquide nevertheless suffered a slight decline in sales to large-scale industry in Q3 (-5.5%), due to plant shutdowns for maintenance and energy control measures in China, where 5 customers had to halt production.
Nevertheless, the Group confirmed its profitability forecasts for the year.
“In 2021, Air Liquide is confident in its ability to again increase its operating margin and achieve growth in net income excluding exceptional items, at constant exchange rates and excluding the impact of possible US tax reform in 2021,” the group said.
