By Inti Landauro
PARIS--French industrial gas supplier Air Liquide (AI.FR)
confirmed Thursday it expects net profit to rise this year after
reporting higher profitability in the first half owing to a strong
performance in its healthcare and electronics businesses.
Net profit during the period rose to EUR849 million from EUR755
million.
The company said revenue rose 8.1% in the first half to 8.12
billion euros ($8.93 billion). Excluding the effects of a weaker
euro during the period, lower energy prices and
merger-and-acquisition effects, revenue rose 3.2% during the
period, the company said in a statement. Analysts polled by FactSet
forecast sales of about EUR9 billion.
The company's revenue was also lifted by the opening of new
plants in China and a gradual recovery in Europe where the
healthcare business kept growing and the industrial activity
expanded.
As a result, the company said its net profit for 2015 will be
higher than the EUR1.64 billion reported for 2014.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
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