François BOUCHON/Le Figaro
OUR SHARE ADVISORY ON AIR LIQUIDE – Against the general trend, growth at the French industrial and medical gases giant is picking up speed. It’s probably not over yet, and what’s more, the group is always paying closer attention to its profitability.
Air Liquide is one of the CAC 40 stocks to have peaked in 2024, but you have to go back to March 15 – two months before the Paris index peaked – to find it again, at nearly €180.
Since then, however, the Group’s performance has been impressive. After a fine first halfsales continued to accelerate. To judge: after 2% in Q1 and 3.4% in Q2, organic growth in the flagship Gas & Services division (around 95% of billings) reached 3.6% in Q3, as announced on October 23. And this despite “a difficult market environment”, commented CEO François Jackow. Over 9 months, sales totaled 19.24 billion euros (+3%).
Like many large groups, Air Liquide’s first and third-quarter results only include sales figures, not the full income statement reserved for half-year and full-year publications. On occasion, however, the Group’s CEO has indicated: “We continue…