By Ed Frankl

Air Liquide said Thursday that first-half profit beat expectations, despite revenue dipping on year, including at its key gas-and-services business.

The French industrial-gases company said net profit for the first six months of the year was EUR1.72 billion ($1.91 billion), up from the EUR1.30 billion it posted in the same period of last year.

Revenue, however, declined by 1.6% to EUR13.98 billion, with gas-and-services revenue, which counts 96% of group revenue, slipping 1.4% to EUR13.41 billion. Overall revenue for the second quarter fell 7.0% on year to EUR6.81 billion.

The results nevertheless topped first-half expectations of EUR1.59 billion in net profit and EUR13.95 billion in revenue, according to consensus provided by the company.

Meanwhile, the Paris-based company said its investment momentum was strong, with a EUR3.5 billion project backlog.

Air Liquide added that in 2023 it is confident in its ability to further increase its operating margin and to deliver recurring net profit growth at constant exchange rates

Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2023 02:03 ET (06:03 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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