Praxair Inc., which operates a major distribution center in Suffield, has posted a nearly 16 percent gain in net profits for the first quarter of its fiscal year and raised its forecast for the full year.
For the three-month period ended March 31, the Danbury-based company reported net income of $307 million, or 96 cents per share. That was up sharply from the comparable quarter in 2007, when the company earned $265 million, or 81 cents per share.
Sales in the first quarter were a record $2.66 million, up 22 percent over sales of $2,175 in the first quarter of 2007.
In comments accompanying the financial report, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steven Angel said Praxair experienced strong sales growth in every geographic region. Growth came primarily from new business, plant start-ups, and strong price increases, Angel said.
Backlog Unprecedented
“Our results show solid organic sales growth in all our major end markets and geographic regions, led by South America and Asia,” he said. “Demand for industrial gases for environmental applications is growing,” Angel said. “As a result, the size of our project backlog is unprecedented.”
He added, “Therefore, we have a positive outlook in a mixed global economy, and expect that our results will continue to reflect strong year-over-year growth in sales and earnings.”
The strong quarter also prompted Angel to raise his forecast for all of 2008 to the range of $4.10 to $4.25 per share, excluding one-time charges, or between 13 and 17 percent ahead of 2007.
That is up from his previous full-year forecast when Angel said he expected earnings per share to be in the range of $3.97 to $4.17, or 10 to 16 percent growth from 2007.
Praxair is also coming off a record year. For all of 2007, Praxair had net earnings of $1.17 billion, up from the previous fiscal year when net profits were $988 million.
Sales for the entire year rose to $9.4 billion — the highest in the company’s history, according to a year-end financial report. That was up 13 percent from sales of $8.32 billion in all of 2006.
The strong year led Praxair to raise its quarterly dividend 25 percent to 37.5 cents per share.
