Linde eyes core profit gain on projects, higher capacity
MUNICH (Reuters) - German industrial gases firm Linde said on Monday it is aiming to raise adjusted core profit by as much as 10 percent in 2015 thanks to a healthy number of gas supply projects due to come on stream.
Linde, the world's largest gases company by sales, forecast that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for one-off effects, would reach between 4.1 billion euros (3 billion pounds) and 4.3 billion euros in 2015, up from 3.92 billion last year.
The company, which processes gases for steelmakers, food companies and petrochemical groups, among many others, is benefiting from output capacity built up with higher than usual investment in plant and equipment over the past three years.
Investment this year will be back at historical averages, when measured as a percentage of sales, after Chief Executive Wolfgang Buechele, who took the top job last year, warned in October of a weaker global economic environment.
The company proposed a dividend of 3.15 euros per share for 2014, up from 3.00 euros last year and more than the average analyst estimate of 3.08 euros.
Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter rose 5.4 percent to 1.02 billion euros, helped by a strong dollar boosting the value of overseas sales, and growth in China and North America. Earnings were broadly in line with the average estimate in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Linde shares were indicated to open 1.6 percent higher.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Kirsti Knolle and David Clarke)
