By Ben Fox Rubin
Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD) said its fiscal
second-quarter profit shrank 2.4% as the industrial-gas provider's
higher expenses offset stronger sales.
The company's products include oxygen, helium and welding and
cutting gases. Air Products trimmed its earnings outlook for the
year, now predicting $5.70 to $5.85 a share, from $5.70 to $5.90 a
share.
Third-quarter earnings are forecast to be $1.42 to $1.47 a
share, compared with $1.50 a share expected by analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters.
For the quarter ended March 31, Air Products reported earnings
of $283.5 million, or $1.32 a share, down from $290.4 million, or
$1.38 a share, a year earlier. The company had predicted per-share
earnings of between $1.32 and $1.37.
Sales rose 3.9% to $2.58 billion from a year ago. Analysts
expected $2.55 billion in revenue.
Product costs rose 5.7%.
Sales in the company's merchant gases segment rose 3.7% to $1.04
billion. Air Products' tonnage gases segment, which provides gases
to refineries and steelmaking industries, reported 3.9% higher
revenue. Sales in electronics and performance materials increased
7.8%.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@wsj.com
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