Linde Bangladesh’s profit plunges 40% in 2023

Linde Bangladesh Limited's profit plummeted 40 percent year-on-year to Tk 52.56 crore in the year that ended on December 31.

The profit of the manufacturer of industrial gas stood at Tk 88.33 crore in 2022. Thus, it reported consolidated earnings per share of Tk 34.54 for last year against Tk 58.04 a year prior. 

The profit declined owing to a reduction in sales, an elevated level of raw material prices, and a sharp depreciation of the taka, said the company on June 20 while unveiling an interim dividend based on the audited financial statements as on October 31.

The directors proposed 1,540 percent in interim dividend, or Tk 154 per share. However, the company did not announce any further dividend, meaning the same interim dividend will be considered as the final dividend for the last financial year. 

Still, this is the highest dividend for the shareholders in at least nine years, data from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) showed.

Shares of Linde Bangladesh, however, closed down 0.26 percent to Tk 1,283.20 on the DSE today. 

The consolidated net asset value per share slipped to Tk 386.80 in 2023 from Tk 397.39 in 2022 while consolidated net operating cash flow per share jumped to Tk 63.72 from Tk 37.32.

Linde's profit, however, rose 25 percent year-on-year to Tk 17.50 crore in the first quarter of 2024. Thus, the EPS climbed to Tk 11.50 in January-March from Tk 9.22 in the identical period a year ago, according to the unaudited financial statements. 

The EPS increased mainly due to an increase in sales coupled with higher gross margin partially offset by higher operating expenses, said the company in a filing on the DSE. 

Linde has been a key player in Bangladesh's industrial gas sector for more than 50 years. Operating through 18 sales centres, it serves more than 35,000 customers.

Its products include liquid and gaseous oxygen and nitrogen, argon, acetylene, carbon dioxide, dry ice, refrigerant gases, lamp gas, and medical oxygen.

Linde has decided to divest its welding electrode business to ESAB Group, an American-Swedish industrial company, by selling 13.82 crore shares of Linde Industries Private Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Linde Bangladesh.

"In our view, this is a possible one-off dividend, distributing the sell-off proceeds by the company," said BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage Company in a note to clients earlier, while commenting on the record dividend payout.