Air Products' fiscal Q3 earnings jump 29% to US$326.5M, sales rise 14% to US$2.58B, on higher volumes primarily from Electronics, Performance Materials, Tonnage segments

Liling Tan

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pennsylvania , July 22, 2011 (press release) – Access the Q3 earnings teleconference scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on July 22 by calling 719-457-2635 and entering passcode 6688531, or listen on the Web at: http://www.airproducts.com/en/investors/earnings-releases/teleconference-information.aspx.

Highlights

Record EPS from continuing operations of $1.46
Sales of $2.6 billion, up 14% versus prior year
Fourth quarter EPS expected to be $1.48 to $1.53

Air Products (NYSE:APD - News) today reported net income from continuing operations of $318 million, up 15 percent* versus prior year, and diluted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations of $1.46, up 14 percent*, for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, 2011.

These results exclude a $0.04 gain in discontinued operations recognizing a tax benefit from the sale of the company's U.S. healthcare operations in 2009. The discussion of third quarter results and guidance in this release excludes this item and is based on non-GAAP comparisons. A reconciliation can be found at the end of this release.*

Third quarter revenues of $2,578 million increased 14 percent from the prior year. On an underlying basis, sales were up seven percent on higher volumes primarily in the Electronics and Performance Materials, and Tonnage segments. Operating income of $417 million rose 11 percent from the prior year on higher volumes.

John McGlade, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, "We continued to see strong volume growth across a number of our businesses. Growth in the Asia Merchant business and more broadly in the energy and electronics markets was strong, while both the U.S. and Europe Merchant businesses were slower. This quarter, as expected, we saw a significant number of planned customer maintenance outages in our Tonnage segment. We remain very disappointed by the continued higher operating and maintenance costs in our Merchant segment and are taking the necessary steps to improve performance."

Third Quarter Segment Performance

Merchant Gases sales of $1,027 million increased 12 percent versus prior year on higher volumes, primarily in Asia, positive pricing in North America and Asia, and favorable currency. Operating income of $182 million improved three percent versus prior year with favorable currency and increased volumes mostly offset by higher operating costs and pricing pressure in Europe.

Tonnage Gases sales of $869 million were up 20 percent from the prior year primarily on higher volumes, and higher energy and raw material cost pass-through. Operating income of $115 million declined four percent. Volume gains were more than offset by higher maintenance costs primarily from customer scheduled outages.

Electronics and Performance Materials sales of $602 million improved 21 percent over the prior year on higher volumes. Operating income of $109 million increased 75 percent on higher volumes and continued strong cost performance. Electronics sales increased 24 percent, and Performance Materials sales grew 18 percent versus prior year. This quarter's results represented record sales, profits and margins for the segment.

Equipment and Energy sales of $80 million were down 31 percent versus the prior year on lower ASU sales. Operating income of $9 million declined significantly on lower sales and a prior year gain on an asset sale. Sequentially, backlog in this segment increased 34 percent with the addition of the world's first floating LNG project.

Outlook

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, McGlade said, "We anticipate continued strong revenue growth in our Tonnage, and Electronics and Performance Materials segments. With the Tonnage planned maintenance outages behind us and the actions we are taking to improve Merchant performance, we expect margins to improve significantly in the quarter."

Air Products expects fourth quarter EPS to be between $1.48 and $1.53 per share and the full fiscal year EPS to be between $5.70 and $5.75 per share.

Last month, Air Products unveiled new financial targets for the 2015 timeframe. The company expects to deliver top line growth of 11 percent to 13 percent per year over the next four years, which would bring its total revenues to more than $15 billion in 2015. Air Products also expects to improve its operating margin to 20 percent and its return on capital to 15 percent by 2015.

Air Products (NYSE:APD - News) serves customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a unique portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services. Founded in 1940, Air Products has built leading positions in key growth markets such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, home healthcare services, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. The company is recognized for its innovative culture, operational excellence and commitment to safety and the environment. In fiscal 2010, Air Products had revenues of $9 billion, operations in over 40 countries, and 18,300 employees around the globe. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

NOTE: This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including earnings guidance, projections and targets. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date this release is issued regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including, without limitation, stalling of global economic recovery; renewed deterioration in economic and business conditions; weakening demand for the Company's products; future financial and operating performance of major customers and industries served by the Company; unanticipated contract terminations or customer cancellations or postponement of projects and sales; the success of commercial negotiations; asset impairments due to economic conditions or specific product or customer events; the impact of competitive products and pricing; interruption in ordinary sources of supply of raw materials; the ability to recover unanticipated increased energy and raw material costs from customers; costs and outcomes of litigation or regulatory actions; successful development and market acceptance of new products and applications, the ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel in all regions of the world where the Company operates; consequences of acts of war or terrorism impacting the United States and other markets; the effects of a natural disaster; the success of cost reduction and productivity programs and achieving anticipated acquisition synergies; the timing, impact, and other uncertainties of future acquisitions or divestitures; significant fluctuations in interest rates and foreign currencies from that currently anticipated; the continued availability of capital funding sources in all of the Company's foreign operations; the impact of environmental, healthcare, tax or other legislation and regulations in jurisdictions in which the Company and its affiliates operate; the impact of new or changed financial accounting guidance; the timing and rate at which tax credits can be utilized and other risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this document to reflect any change in the Company's assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.

*The presentation of non-GAAP measures is intended to enhance the usefulness of financial information by providing measures which our management uses internally to evaluate our baseline performance on a comparable basis. Presented below are reconciliations of the reported GAAP results to the non-GAAP measures.

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