Despite a decline in quarterly profit, Praxair Inc. is projecting a stronger second quarter and CEO Steve Angel said the company is experiencing solid growth in developing markets such as Brazil, China and South Korea.
Praxair, based in Danbury and the largest provider of industrial gases in the Americas, reported first-quarter earnings of $391 million, or $1.30 per share, down nearly 7 percent from first-quarter 2012 earnings of $419 million, or $1.38 per share.
The company attributed the drop in part to a $23 million pre-tax charge related to currency devaluation in Venezuela. Excluding that charge, adjusted earnings per share were $1.38, which were in line with analysts’ expectations.
“During the first quarter … Our Asia business grew sales at double-digit rates in China and Korea, due primarily to project startups,” Angel said in an April 24 statement. “Sales in Brazil improved in March driven by manufacturing and construction. North American sales reflect solid underlying fundamentals with some deceleration of the growth rate.”
Overall, the company’s sales increased about 2 percent from a year ago to $2.88 billion for the first quarter. Praxair expects second-quarter earnings of between $1.45 and $1.50.
Angel said the company would also be starting development on “several large hydrogen projects as well as a number of air separation plants that will contribute to earnings growth.”
Among those projects is a new air separation plant Praxair’s Canadian subsidiary will develop near Edmonton, Alberta.
Praxair announced April 22 it had entered into a long-term agreement with North West Redwater Partnership to build, own and operate a facility that will be able to produce 2,000 tons of oxygen and associated volumes of nitrogen and merchant argon per day.
The plant is scheduled to start up in 2016.
