Air Products beats Q4 profit estimates boosted by Asia and Europe surge
Adds shares in paragraph 2, CEO comment and other details in paragraphs 7 to 8
By Vallari Srivastava
Nov 7 (Reuters) -Air Products APD.N beat Wall Street's expectations for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as the industrial gases manufacturer benefited from strength in Asian and European markets.
Shares of the company were up 2% in morning trade.
In August, manufacturing activity in the eurozone displayed robust performance, whileAsian factories showed signs of a tentative recovery, both driven by resilient demand.
Europe and Asia, Air Products' second and third largest revenue sources, experienced substantial growth in operating income in the quarter, with both regions increasing by almost 23-24%.
The Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania-based company's total operating income rose nearly 15% to $848.8 million in the fourth quarter, without including the proceeds from the sale of its liquefied natural gas business to Honeywell.
The company forecast 2025 adjusted earnings in the range of $12.70 to $13.00 per share, reflecting the sale of its LNG business to Honeywell HON.O, falling short of analysts' estimates of $13.31 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Air Products expects first-quarter adjusted earnings to be between $2.75 to $2.85 per share, also below analysts' estimates of $3.15 per share.
"We are not forecasting any significant growth for (first quarter of fiscal 2025) due to our concerns about the economic activity in China," CEO Seifi Ghasemi said on a conference call.
China, which accounts for nearly 16% of Air Products' annual revenue, has been struggling with persistently weak manufacturing activity amid muted domestic demand and rising global trade barriers.
UK-based rival Linde LIN.DE also beat analysts' expectations for quarterly profit last month but warned of a slowdown in its end markets and trimmed its full-year profit forecast.
Air Products posted an adjusted profit of $3.56 per share in the July-September quarter, compared to analysts' estimates of $3.48 per share.
Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid
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