Air Products today reported net income of $292 million, or diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.36, for its fiscal first quarter ended December 31, 2011, versus $296 million and $1.35 for the first quarter of fiscal 2011.
First quarter revenues of $2,423 million increased one percent versus the prior year on higher prices in Merchant Gases and Performance Materials. Higher volumes from new plants in Tonnage Gases were offset by lower Equipment sales and lower volumes in Performance Materials and Merchant Gases.
Sequentially, sales declined seven percent due to seasonality in Electronics and Performance Materials and Merchant Gases, plus currency effects. Operating income of $385 million was down five percent and margin of 15.9% was down 100 basis points from last year driven by lower Equipment sales and weaker Merchant Gases volumes.
John McGlade, chairman, president and chief executive officer , said, “ As we expected, economic growth continued to slow this quarter, depressing volumes and limiting earnings growth. In spite of these economic headwinds, we did improve our operating performance, while lowering costs and winning significant new tonnage contracts .”
First Quarter Segment Performance
Outlook
Looking ahead, McGlade said, “ We expect second quarter economic activity to remain slow. We are forecasting Asia and North America growth to accelerate in the second half of our fiscal year. Coupled with our improved operating performance and new plant on-streams, this should lead to stronger sales and earnings growth in the last half of our year. Our recent orders, strong project backlog and robust bidding activity position us well to achieve our 2015 goals for growth, margin and returns. ”
[mappress] LNG World News Staff, January 24, 2012