Linde plc (Nasdaq:LIN) today reported fourth-quarter 2024 net income of $1,725 million and diluted earnings per share of $3.60, up 12% and 14% respectively. Excluding Linde AG purchase accounting impacts and other charges, adjusted net income was $1,899 million, up 8% versus prior year. Adjusted earnings per share was $3.97, 11% above prior year or 13% when excluding currency translation impact.
Linde's sales for the fourth quarter were $8,282 million, flat versus prior year or 2% above when excluding negative currency impact. Compared to prior year, underlying sales increased 2% from price attainment and stable volumes.
Fourth-quarter operating profit was $2,270 million. Adjusted operating profit of $2,480 million was up 9% versus prior year led by higher price and continued productivity initiatives across all segments. Adjusted operating profit margin of 29.9% was 250 basis points above prior year.
Fourth-quarter operating cash flow of $2,809 million increased 3% versus prior year. After capital expenditures of $1,250 million, free cash flow was $1,559 million. During the quarter, the company returned $1,990 million to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases, net of issuances.
For full-year 2024, sales were $33.0 billion, flat versus 2023. Compared to prior year, underlying sales increased 2% from 2% price attainment and stable volumes. Operating profit was $8.6 billion and adjusted operating profit was $9.7 billion, 7% above prior year. Adjusted operating profit margin was 29.5% of sales, 190 basis points higher than 2023. Diluted earnings per share was $13.62 and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $15.51, up 9% versus prior year or 10% when excluding currency translation impact.
In 2024, Linde generated strong operating cash flow of $9.4 billion. The company invested $4.5 billion in capital expenditures and returned $7.1 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks, net of issuances.
Commenting on the financial results and business outlook, Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Lamba said, "In 2024, the Linde team once again delivered industry leading results, including a 25.9% ROC, 29.5% operating margin and an EPS growth of 10% excluding currency. The results were delivered despite the challenging environment, reflecting the resiliency of our model and the exceptional execution by our employees. We also made significant progress in our clean energy strategy, signing our largest ever product supply agreement with a high-quality customer, supporting the $10 billion project backlog which will contribute to earnings growth for years to come."
Lamba continued, "As anticipated, global macro conditions have continued to weaken, especially foreign currency translation. Regardless, I'm confident that with our disciplined capital allocation and focused management actions Linde will continue to deliver shareholder value."
For the full year 2025, the company expects adjusted diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $16.15 to $16.55, up 4% to 7% versus prior year or 8% to 11% when excluding estimated currency headwinds. Full-year capital expenditures are expected to range between $5 billion and $5.5 billion to support operating and growth requirements, including the contractual sale of gas backlog. For the first quarter 2025, adjusted earnings per share is expected to be in the range of $3.85 to $3.95, 3% to 5% above prior-year quarter or 7% to 9% when excluding 4% assumed unfavorable currency.
Fourth-Quarter 2024 Results by Segment
Americas sales of $3,609 million grew 1% versus prior-year quarter. Compared with fourth quarter 2023, underlying sales increased 3% driven by 2% higher pricing and 1% volumes, primarily in the manufacturing, electronics and food & beverage end markets. Operating profit of $1,150 million was 31.9% of sales, 190 basis points above prior year.
APAC (Asia Pacific) sales of $1,668 million were 2% above prior year. Compared to prior year, underlying sales grew 1% driven by project start-up volumes, primarily in the electronics end market. Operating profit of $500 million was 30.0% of sales, 240 basis points above prior year.
EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) sales of $2,059 million were down 2% versus prior year. Compared with fourth-quarter 2023, underlying sales grew 1%, driven by 3% higher pricing partially offset by 2% lower volumes. Volumes were lower versus prior year, mainly in manufacturing and chemicals and energy end markets. Operating profit of $686 million was 33.3% of sales, 400 basis points above prior year.
Linde Engineering sales were $628 million, 5% below prior year, and operating profit was $106 million or 16.9% of sales. Order intake for the quarter was $880 million and third-party sale of equipment backlog was $3.3 billion.
Earnings Call
A teleconference on Linde's fourth-quarter 2024 results is being held today at 9:00 am EST.
Materials to be used in the teleconference are also available on the website.
About Linde
Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2024 sales of $33 billion. We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain, decarbonize and protect our planet.
The company serves a variety of end markets such as chemicals & energy, food & beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and mining. Linde's industrial gases and technologies are used in countless applications including production of clean hydrogen and carbon capture systems critical to the energy transition, life-saving medical oxygen and high-purity & specialty gases for electronics. Linde also delivers state-of-the-art gas processing solutions to support customer expansion, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.
For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.linde.com
Adjusted amounts, free cash flow and return on capital are non-GAAP measures. See the attachments for a summary of non-GAAP reconciliations and calculations for adjusted amounts.
Attachments: Summary Non-GAAP Reconciliations, Statements of Income, Balance Sheets, Statements of Cash Flows, Segment Information and Appendix: Non-GAAP Measures and Reconciliations.
*Note: We are providing adjusted earnings per share ("EPS") guidance for 2025. This is a non-GAAP financial measure that represents diluted earnings per share (a GAAP measure) but excludes the impact of certain items that we believe are not representative of our underlying business performance, such as cost reduction and other charges, the impact of potential divestitures or other potentially significant items. Given the uncertainty of timing and magnitude of such items, we cannot provide a reconciliation of the differences between the non-GAAP adjusted EPS guidance and the corresponding GAAP EPS measure without unreasonable effort.
Forward-looking Statements
This document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as: anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, expect, continue, should, could, may, plan, project, predict, will, potential, forecast, and similar expressions. They are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date the statements are made but involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: the performance of stock markets generally; developments in worldwide and national economies and other international events and circumstances, including trade conflicts and tariffs; changes in foreign currencies and in interest rates; the cost and availability of electric power, natural gas and other raw materials; the ability to achieve price increases to offset cost increases; catastrophic events including natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics such as COVID-19, and acts of war and terrorism; the ability to attract, hire, and retain qualified personnel; the impact of changes in financial accounting standards; the impact of changes in pension plan liabilities; the impact of tax, environmental, healthcare and other legislation and government regulation in jurisdictions in which the company operates; the cost and outcomes of investigations, litigation and regulatory proceedings; the impact of potential unusual or non-recurring items; continued timely development and market acceptance of new products and applications; the impact of competitive products and pricing; future financial and operating performance of major customers and industries served; the impact of information technology system failures, network disruptions and breaches in data security; and the effectiveness and speed of integrating new acquisitions into the business. These risks and uncertainties may cause future results or circumstances to differ materially from adjusted projections, estimates or other forward-looking statements.
Linde plc assumes no obligation to update or provide revisions to any forward-looking statement in response to changing circumstances. The above listed risks and uncertainties are further described in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Linde plc's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on February 28, 2024, which should be reviewed carefully. Please consider Linde plc's forward-looking statements in light of those risks.
Additional features:
File: Q4 2024 Earnings Release Tables
SOURCE: Linde plc
