BERLIN: Germany’s Linde AG (LIN.XE) on Friday reported a rise in third-quarter net profit, but said its revenue fell due to exchange rate losses and weak demand at its engineering division.
The industrial gases and engineering group also broadened its cost-cutting measures, saying it must improve efficiency by saving an additional 370 million euros ($403.6 million) a year from 2019.
Net profit for the third quarter increased to EUR313 million from EUR281 million, exceeding analysts’ forecasts of EUR306 million. Sales fell to EUR4.41 billion from EUR4.51 billion, Linde said, still slightly topping analysts’ expectations.
The company’s closely watched earnings before interest and taxes came to EUR527 million. Including measures launched in 2015, the company now expects to save a total of EUR550 million in annual costs from 2019. Still, it confirmed its earnings and sales outlook for 2016 and remains committed to paying a higher dividend for 2016.
