In a period of economic downturn, Danbury-based Praxair Inc., an industrial gases company, reported a 20 percent increase in net income in Q1 2008 to $307 million from $265 million in the same period last year.
Company sales were also up, rising 22 percent in the first quarter to $2.7 billion, from $2.2 billion during the same period last year.
“We had a very strong first quarter,” Steve Angel, Praxair chairman and CEO, said in a statement. Angel said sales growth is particularly strong in South America and Asia and demand for industrial gases is growing , resulting in a project backlog.
