Linde Plc

Last modified by Md. Touhidul Islam on 2023/01/31 09:20

Summary

  • Linde Plc. is an international industrial gas company established in 1879 in Germany and currently headquartered in Ireland with principal offices in the United Kingdom and the United States.
  • Linde plc is dual listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) with the ticker symbol LIN. However, the company has decided to delist from Frankfurt Stock Exchange, effective from March 1, 2023. 
  • The company has reported sales of $8,797 million during the third quarter ended on September 30, 2022, which was $7,668 million a year earlier. Net income of the company during the period is $1,273 million, up from $979 million.
  • For the year ended on December 31, 2021, the company reported sales of $30,793 million, which is 13% above 2020 sales of $27,243 million. Net income of the company  is $3,821 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) is $7.32 for the year.
  • On October 31, 2018 Praxair and Linde AG combined their respective businesses through an all-stock transaction and became subsidiaries of Linde Plc. 
  • Linde Plc has two lines of business mainly - industrial gas, and engineering. Under industrial gas the company has two business lines - atmospheric gases and process gases. The engineering side of the business builds equipment that produces industrial gases.
  • Linde Plc, through its subsidiary Linde Gas & Equipment Inc., which has been holding a minority interest in nexAir, has acquired nexAir LLC by purchasing the remaining interest. The acquisition is announced on January 6, 2023.

Brief Company Overview

Linde logoLinde Plc (FWB:LIN, NYSE:LIN) is an international industrial gas company established in 1879 in Germany and currently headquartered in Ireland with principal offices in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its primary products in its industrial gases business are atmospheric gases (oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases) and process gases (carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene). The company also designs and builds equipment that produces industrial gases and offers customers a wide range of gas production and processing services such as olefin plants, natural gas plants, air separation plants, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants and other types of plants. Linde serves a diverse group of industries including healthcare, chemicals and energy, manufacturing, metals and mining, food and beverage, and electronics. The company employs approximately 80,000 people globally (65,273 full-time employees1) and serves customers in more than 100 countries worldwide.2 

Linde is a global enterprise with approximately 70% of its 2021 sales outside of the United States. The company also has majority or wholly owned subsidiaries that operate in approximately 45 European, Middle Eastern and African countries (including Germany, France, Sweden, the Republic of South Africa, and the United Kingdom (U.K.)); approximately 20 Asian and South Pacific countries (including China, Australia, India, South Korea and Thailand); and approximately 20 countries in North and South America (including Canada, Mexico and Brazil). The company also has equity method investments operating in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and North America

The company's reported segments are divided into four parts - Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa), APAC (Asia, Pacific), and Global other. 

linde cover photo

Linde plc is dual listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) with the ticker symbol LIN.3 As on January 30, 2023, the company is trading at USD 324.26 and EURO 299.85. Market cap of the company is $159.93 billion with about 492 million shares outstanding. Basic earnings per share (EPS) of the company during the previous financial year was $7.40 and in the quarter ended September 30, 2022 is $2.31. 

Financial Analysis

Q3'22 Analysis

The company has reported sales of $8,797 million during the third quarter ended on September 30, 2022, which was $7,668 million a year earlier. Sales increased $1,129 million, or 15%, for the third quarter of 2022 and increased $2,970 million, or 13% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 versus the respective 2021 periods. Volume growth in all end markets, except healthcare, and project startups increased sales by 3% in the quarter and 2% in the year-to-date period. Higher pricing across all geographic segments contributed 8% to sales in the quarter and 7% in the year-to-date period. Cost passthrough increased sales by 8% in the quarter and 7% in the year-to-date period with minimal impact on operating profit. Currency translation decreased sales by 7% in the quarter and 5% in the year-to-date period, largely in EMEA, APAC and Engineering, driven by the weakening of the Euro, Chinese yuan, British pound and Australian dollar against the U.S. dollar. The impact of divestitures decreased sales by 1% in the quarter. Engineering increased sales by 4% in the quarter and 2% in the year-to-date period.

Cost of goods sold reported is $5,285 million, increased from $4,368 million during the same quarter a year earlier. Cost of sales, exclusive of depreciation and amortization increased $917 million, or 21%, for the third quarter of 2022 and increased $2,407 million, or 19% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 primarily due to inflation and higher volumes, partially offset by productivity gains and currency effects. 

Reported depreciation and amortization expense decreased $118 million, or 10%, for the third quarter of 2022 and decreased $252 million, or 7%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease is related primarily to lower depreciation and amortization of intangible assets acquired in the merger and currency impacts. 

Russia-Ukraine conflict and other charges were $15 million and $1,004 million for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively. The charge recorded in the third quarter of 2022 is primarily driven by the sale of the GIST business. The charge for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 relates primarily to the deconsolidation and impairment of Russian subsidiaries resulting from the ongoing war in Ukraine and related sanctions recorded as of June 30, 2022. 2021 charges of $26 million and $222 million, for the quarter and year-to-date periods respectively, relate to cost reduction program and other charges, primarily severance. 

Net income of the company during the period is $1,273 million, up from $979 million. Reported income from continuing operations increased $295 million, or 30%, for the third quarter of 2022 and increased $22 million, or 1%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 versus the respective 2021 periods. On an adjusted basis, which excludes the impacts of purchase accounting and Russia-Ukraine conflict and other charges, income from continuing operations increased $134 million, or 9%, for the quarter and increased $473 million, or 11%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 versus the respective 2021 periods. On both a reported and adjusted basis, the increase was driven by higher operating profit. 

Cash & cash equivalent for the company reported is $3,756 million on September 30, 2022, which was $2,823 million on December 31, 2021. The cash position of the company has depleted during this time period. Accounts receivable net of reserves were $4,599 million at September 30, 2022 and $4,499 million at December 31, 2021. Allowances for expected credit losses were $377 million at September 30, 2022 and $405 million at December 31, 2021. Provisions for expected credit losses were $112 million and $101 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The company has reported $2,954 million commercial paper on September 30, 2022, up from $278 million at the end of previous financial year. Bank borrowing of the company during the same period has decreased from $885 million to $225 million. Total reported long-term debt of the company on September 30, 2022 is $10,608 million, down from $11,335 million on December 31, 2021. 

Annual Result Analysis

For the year ended on December 31, 2021, the company reported sales of $30,793 million, which is 13% above 2020 sales of $27,243 million. Volume growth across all end markets and project start-ups increased sales by 8% . Higher pricing across all geographic segments contributed 3% to sales. Favorable currency translation and higher cost pass-through increased sales by 5%, partially offset by the deconsolidation of a joint venture with operations in APAC which decreased sales by 3%. Reported operating profit of $4,984 million was 50% above that of 2020. Adjusted operating profit of $7,176 million was 24% above 2020. The increase in both reported and adjusted operating profit was primarily driven by higher volume and price and the benefit of cost reduction programs and other charges and productivity initiatives, partially offset by the deconsolidation of a joint venture with operations in APAC. Income from continuing operations is $3,821 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations is $7.32 increased from $2,497 million and $4.70, respectively in 2020. Cash flow from operations of $9,725 million was 31% above 2020. Capital expenditures were $3,086 million; dividends paid were $2,189 million; net purchases of ordinary shares of $4,562 million; and debt repayments, net were $514 million. 

Cash a cash equivalents position of the company has depleted from $3,754 million on December 31, 2020 to $2,823 million on December 31, 2021. Owing to the increase in accounts receivables, the company reports approximately same total current assets during the two financial years - $10,159 million and $10,924 million, respectively. Total assets of the company is reported $81,605 million and $88,229 million, respectively. Total current liabilities during the years are $13,643 million and $13,740 million, respectively. As on December 31, 2021, the company had 1,750,000,000 shares with par value of €0.001, and of it 552,012,862 shares were issued. Retained earnings of the company has increased from $17,178 million to $18,710 million. Also, accumulated other comprehensive losses increased from $4,690 million to $5,048 million during the year. The company has paid $3.50 dividends per ordinary share in 2021. Total cash dividend paid is $2,189 million. 

Merger of Praxair, Inc. and Linde AG

On October 31, 2018 Praxair and Linde AG combined their respective businesses through an all-stock transaction and became subsidiaries of Linde Plc. As a condition of the U.S. regulatory approval of the merger, Linde AG agreed to sell the majority of its industrial gases business in the Americas. The Linde AG Americas Sales and Purchase Agreement, dated July 16, 2018, as and further amended on September 22, 2018, October 19, 2018, and February 20, 2019 whereby Linde AG and Praxair, Inc. entered into an agreement with a consortium comprising companies of the German industrial gases manufacturer Messer Group and CVC Capital Partners Fund VII to sell the majority of Linde AG’s industrial gases business in North America and certain industrial gases business activities of Linde AG’s in South America for $2.9 billion in cash consideration after purchase price adjustments for certain items relating to assets and liabilities of the sold businesses. In addition, divestitures include $0.5 billion of proceeds for incremental plant sales within the Americas under other agreements. These transactions were completed on March 1, 2019. 

linde and praxair merger

On April 30, 2019, Linde completed the sale of select assets of Linde South Korea with the sale price of $1.2 billion to IMM Private Equity Inc., to satisfy requirements of the Korea Fair Trade Commission. The assets divested include bulk and on-site business in Giheung, Pohang and Seosan sites as well as oxygen and nitrogen on-site generators. On December 16, 2019, Linde completed the sale of select assets of Linde India with a sale price of $193 million. In March 2020, Linde completed the sale of select assets of Linde China with a sale price of $98 million. 

Business Overview

Linde Plc has two lines of business mainly - industrial gas, and engineering. Under industrial gas the company has two business lines - atmospheric gases and process gases. The engineering side of the business builds equipment that produces industrial gases. The company serves a diverse group of industries including healthcare, chemicals and energy, manufacturing, metals and mining, food and beverage, and electronics. The business of Linde is not seasonal, neither is it dependent upon a single customer or a few customers. Linde carries inventories of merchant and cylinder gases and hardgoods to supply products to its customers on a reasonable delivery schedule. On-site plants and pipeline complexes have limited inventory. Inventory obsolescence is not material to Linde’s business. 

linde engineering plant

Product manufacturing processes

Industrial Gas

Atmospheric gases are the highest volume products produced by Linde. Using air as its raw material, Linde produces oxygen, nitrogen and argon through several air separation processes of which cryogenic air separation is the most prevalent. Rare gases, such as krypton, neon and xenon, are also produced through cryogenic air separation. As a pioneer in the industrial gases industry, Linde developed a wide range of proprietary and patented applications and supply systems technology. Linde also led the development and commercialization of non-cryogenic air separation technologies for the production of industrial gases.4 One of the many technologies include proprietary vacuum pressure swing adsorption (“VPSA”) and membrane separation to produce gaseous oxygen and nitrogen, respectively. 

Process gases, including carbon dioxide, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, helium, specialty gases and acetylene are produced by methods other than air separation. Most carbon dioxide is purchased from by-product sources, including chemical plants, refineries and industrial processes or is recovered from carbon dioxide wells. Carbon dioxide is processed in Linde’s plants to produce commercial and food-grade carbon dioxide.

linde gas

The vast majority of hydrogen produced by Linde is what is termed gray hydrogen and is derived from natural gas or methane, using steam methane reformation technology. Linde has multiple technologies to produce other types of hydrogen, including blue and green, which are both considered types of clean energy. Blue hydrogen is produced by capturing the carbon emissions from the hydrogen plant and either utilizing them in a way that stops them from being emitted or sequestering them in the subsurface for the long term. 

Helium is sourced from certain helium-rich natural gas streams in the United States, with additional supplies being acquired from outside the United States. Carbon monoxide can be produced by either steam methane reforming or autothermal reforming of natural gas or other feed streams such as naphtha. Acetylene is primarily sourced as a chemical by-product, but may also be produced from calcium carbide and water. 

Engineering

Linde’s Engineering business has a global presence, with its focus on market segments such as olefin, natural gas, air separation, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants. The company plans, designs and constructs turnkey plants for the production and processing of gases. Linde’s plants are used in a wide variety of fields: in the petrochemical and chemical industries, in refineries and fertilizer plants, to recover air gases, to produce synthesis gases, to treat natural gas and to produce noble gases. The Engineering business either supplies plant components directly to the customer or to the industrial gas business of Linde which operates the plants under a long-term gases supply contract. 

Distribution processes

There are three basic distribution methods for industrial gases: information on-site or tonnage; (ii) merchant or bulk liquid; and (iii) packaged or cylinder gases. These distribution methods are often integrated, with products from all three supply modes coming from the same plant. The method of supply is generally determined by the lowest cost means of meeting the customer’s needs, depending upon factors such as volume requirements, purity, pattern of usage, and the form in which the product is used (as a gas or as a cryogenic liquid). 

Customers that require the largest volumes of product (typically oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen) and that have a relatively constant demand pattern are supplied by cryogenic and process gas on-site plants. The merchant business is generally associated with distributable liquid oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and helium. The deliveries generally are made from Linde’s plants by tanker trucks to storage containers at the customer’s site which are owned and maintained by Linde and leased to the customer. Customers requiring small volumes are supplied products in metal containers called cylinders, under medium to high pressure. Packaged gases include atmospheric gases, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium, acetylene and related products.  

Competition

Linde participates in highly competitive markets in industrial gases and engineering, which are characterized by a mixture of local, regional and global players, all of which exert competitive pressure on the parties. In locations where Linde has pipeline networks, which enable the company to provide reliable and economic supply of products to larger customers, Linde derives a competitive advantage. Competitors in the industrial gases industry include global and regional companies such as L’Air Liquide S.A., Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Messer Group GmbH, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation (through Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation) as well as an extensive number of small to medium size independent industrial gas companies which compete locally as producers or distributors. In addition, a significant portion of the international gases market relates to customer-owned plants. 

CompetitorsRevenue2021 (Amount in USD bn)
Linde Plc.$30.79

Air Liquide

$22.70
Air Product and Chemicals, Inc.$12.69
Messer Group $1.10

History of Linde Plc

Linde has a long-standing history of about 140 years. The company started in 1879 when Carl Linde found the Geselleschaft für Linde's Eismaschinen in Wiesbaden, Germany together with five partners. Linde had a mechanical refrigeration system which would have clear big benefits for beer brewing industry. In 1907, Carl Linde himself travels to the United States to establish Linde Air Products as a subsidiary in the US. The venture became a successful one. Due to the first world war, Linde loses the US subsidiary due to expropriation. Linde Air Products in the USA becomes a part of the newly formed Union Carbide Corporation in 1917. Linde division from the Union Carbide is spun off in 1992 to form Praxair and the newly formed company goes public. Praxair makes a couple of major acquisitions in the subsequent years. The company acquires Liquid Carbonic, which facilitates the company to enter Carbon Dioxide market and to give it a full product line of gases. The acquisition also extended Praxair's presence in South America, Poland, and Thailand.

Historical image of Linde

The right that was lost in 1917 to use the name Linde, the company regains it in 1999 in the United States. Story of the subsequent years of the company is a story of a series of acquisition. In 2000, Linde acquires the Swedish gases company AGA and therefore expands the business footprint in Northern Europe and South and Middle America. In 2004, Praxair acquires Air Liquide's Germany business expanding its business in the refining, chemical and steel industries along the pipeline systems, and smaller customers in bulk, medical, specialty and packaged gases. In 2006, Linde Group is formed after Linde AG acquires BOC. In the same year, the company sells Material Handling business that becomes and part of KION and still uses Linde as a brand name. Linde acquires in 2012 Lincare, a business with Linde roots in the United States. In 2013, Praxair acquires NuCO2, a leading provider of beverage carbonation solutions in the United States giving the company opportunity to continue growing the business in the US enhancing distribution efficiency, and extending NuCO2's offerings to customers in other regions of the world. In 2016, Praxair acquires Yara International ASA's (Yara) European CO2 business expanding the company's presence in resilient end-markets such as food and beverage. In 2018, Praxair and Linde are merged to form Linde Plc. In 2018, the company has relocated to Ireland with its headquarters in the UK. 

Recent Development

  • Linde Plc, through its subsidiary Linde Gas & Equipment Inc., which has been holding a minority interest in nexAir, has acquired nexAir LLC by purchasing the remaining interest.5
  • The company has held an extraordinary general meeting on January 18, 2023. The shareholders in that meeting has approved the plan of the company for delisting from Frankfurt Stock Exchange, effective from March 1, 2023. The company will then trade on New York Stock Exchange.6
  • According to Russia's Interfax news service, Linde is being sued by Gazprom's RusKhimAlyans joint venture with privately owned RusGasDobycha. Interfax said the joint venture plans to initiate proceedings at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center to recover an advance of around $1 billion that it paid under a 2021 contract to design and build the Ust-Luga LNG plant.7

  • Linde Plc's Board of Directors has elected Hugh Grant as a new director, effective from January 23, 2023.
  1. ^ https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/LIN/profile?p=LIN
  2. ^ https://www.lindeus.com/the-new-linde
  3. ^ https://investors.linde.com/stock-and-dividend-information
  4. ^ See SEC Filing, 2021, p.4
  5. ^ https://www.chemengonline.com/linde-acquires-u-s-based-gas-distributor-nexair/?printmode=1
  6. ^ https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/01/19/linde-egm#
  7. ^ https://www.energyintel.com/00000185-7d25-d11f-a99f-fd2d065d0000
Tags: US:LIN USA
Created by Md. Touhidul Islam on 2023/01/30 05:46
     
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