Air Products takes its acquisition proposal straight to Airgas’ shareholders.
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Airgas: Acquisition proposals “grossly undervalue” the gases distributor.
Same-store sales for the gases distributor fell 14% in the quarter.
Airgas, Radnor, PA, outlined its growth strategies and successes in its annual analyst meeting in December. Here is an overview of the key areas covered by the gases and welding hardgoods distributor.
Product and Segment Focus
According to Airgas, about 30 percent of its total sales go to customer segments that are “growing faster than GDP.” Strategic products, a group of five product areas, account for 40 percent of sales. Those are: Bulk, Medical, Specialty Gas, CO2/Dry Ice, and Safety Products. These product areas have grown faster than Airgas’ other core business, COO Michael Molinini told analysts, and the areas cater to “favorable customer segments.”
One growth driver for these areas is cross-selling. For example, …
Airgas’ acquisitive strategy highlighted in recent analyst presentation.
A L Welding Products has two locations in Washington.
Specialty Gases and Equipment Reference Guide is now available at its Web site.
American affiliate companies Air Liquide Process & Construction and Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP will manage the acquired technology.
Fitch had four locations in Oklahoma and Texas.
Pacific Welding Supplies will continue to operate as a separate division.
Same-store sales for the gases distributor fell 19% during the quarter.
Sequentially, sales for the industrial gases distributor rose 7% from the second quarter 2009.
Praxair, Inc., Danbury, CT, reported sales for the second quarter 2009 were $2.13 billion, down 26% from the prior year same period. Profit declined 14.3% to $299 million.
For the first six months of 2009, sales were $4.26 billion, down 23.1% from the first half of 2008. Profit decreased 10.2% to $589 million.
"Challenging economic conditions persisted globally in the quarter, resulting in overall volumes on par with the first quarter," CEO Steve Angel said. "We have begun to see pockets of sequential improvement in Asia and South America, where economic activity appears to be reacting positively to fiscal and monetary stimulus programs. In Europe and North America, the overall industrial environment remains very weak, although volumes appear to have stabilized."
In North …
Sealed Air Corp., Elmwood Park, NJ, reported second quarter 2009 sales of $1.03 billion, down 20% from the prior year period. Profit declined 3% to $60.5 million.
Year to date, sales were $2.01 billion, down 18% from second quarter 2008. Profit decreased 4% to $118.6 million.
Food Packaging segment second quarter sales decreased 14% to $449 million. Operating profit was $62 million in the quarter, about 10% higher than the prior.
Food Solutions’ second quarter sales decreased 15% to $220 million, primarily a result of lower unit volumes in Europe due to reduced meat consumption attributable to economic conditions. Operating profit was $22 million in the quarter, 22% higher than prior year.
Second quarter sales in the Protective Packaging segment decreased 28% to $282 …
Airgas, Inc., Radnor, PA, a U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, and welding, safety, and related products, reported sales for the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, were $1.0 billion, down 12% from the prior year. Profit declined 20.4% to $54.8 million.
Same-store sales declined 17%, with hardgoods down 27% and gas and rent down 10%. Acquisitions contributed 5% sales growth in the quarter.
"Sales were consistently at the low end of our expectations throughout the quarter, and demand continues to be weak across most customer segments," CEO Peter McCausland said. "Manufacturing has shown the deepest declines, analytical and utilities have shown some resilience, and our medical sales posted positive …
Pentair, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, reported second quarter sales of $694 million, a decrease of 23% compared with second quarter 2008. Profit declined 77% to $31.9 million.
Year-to-date, sales were $1.33 billion, a decline of 23.2% over the prior year. Profit fell 73.1% to $49.1 million.
"Overall we continue to make tremendous progress against our cost actions as well as to drive strong free cash flow generation. While a few of our markets are showing signs of improvement, most continue to remain soft, as expected," CEO Randall J. Hogan says.
The Water Group delivered $487 million in sales, an 18% decline year-over-year. Sales were down 17% excluding the formation of the Pentair Residential Filtration business with General Electric’s (GE) Water and Process Technologies unit, which …
Airgas, Inc., Radnor, PA, a U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, and welding, safety, and related products, reported sales of $992 million for fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009, down 9% from the prior year. Profit declined 12.4% to $56.5 million. Same-store sales declined 13% in the quarter.
For the full year, sales increased 8% to $4.3 billion. Acquisitions contributed 7% sales growth in the year, while total same-store sales grew 1%, with hardgoods down 4% and gas and rent up 4%. Airgas completed 14 acquisitions in fiscal 2009. Profit increased 16.9% to $261 million.
"The current environment puts a damper on what was a record year for Airgas in earnings and cash flow, but we’re using this time to strengthen our operations so that …
Sealed Air Corp., Elmwood Park, NJ, reported first quarter 2009 sales of $988 million, down 16% from first quarter 2008. Profit declined 4.4% to $58.1 million.
The Food Packaging segment’s first quarter sales decreased 9% to $424 million, primarily reflecting favorable product price/mix in North America and Latin America.
Food Solutions’ first quarter sales decreased 13% to $205 million.
First quarter sales in the Protective Packaging segment decreased 25% to $280 million.
We continue to anticipate ongoing weak global economic conditions through at least the third quarter and have assumed a slow recovery starting at the end of the year and into 2010, said William V. Hickey, president and CEO. …
