Air Liquide revenue reaches €7.259 billion as it launches €1 billion share buyback
Key Facts
Air Liquide reported revenue of €7.259 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 3% on a comparable basis and 10% on a reported basis, according to a company statement dated October 29. Revenue rose 4.3% excluding the impact of currency and energy, placing the comparable growth figure between reported growth and the increase excluding those two effects. Chief Executive François Jackow said, "The most important development this quarter was the acceleration in volume growth in Electronics and Industrial Merchant, exceeding the positive price effect." The company said the acceleration came in a volatile environment. It also launched the first tranche of its share buyback programme, worth €1 billion, as part of a total €4 billion programme through the end of 2028. Purchases will begin on October 30, with the tranche to be completed by the end of 2026.
Quarterly comparisons show comparable growth of 1.9% in the first quarter of 2026, accelerating to 3.5% in the second quarter before reaching 3% in the third. In its first-half results, the company said revenue was close to €14 billion, up 2.6% on a comparable basis; it also described the second quarter as seeing a sharp increase in activity and comparable growth of 3.5%. Gas & Services, the group's largest business, posted third-quarter comparable revenue growth of 3.6%, with revenue of €7.075 billion. Electronics sales rose 12% on a comparable basis, supported by continued demand for semiconductors linked to AI. The company said accelerating volumes in Electronics and Industrial Merchant exceeded the positive price effect, putting growth in operating activities at the heart of its assessment of the results.
In Industrial Merchant, revenue rose 5.3% on a comparable basis, driven by a 5.3% price effect and volume growth of about 2% excluding helium. The company's breakdown indicates that price increases were the clearest quantitative driver of growth in the business during the quarter, while volume growth provided further support for sales. Management, by contrast, said accelerating volumes in Industrial Merchant and Electronics exceeded the positive price effect across the two businesses. The statement gave no figure for third-quarter Electronics revenue, confirming only its comparable growth rate. Group revenue on a reported basis grew faster than on a comparable basis, while growth was 4.3% excluding the impact of currency and energy. These three measures offer different readings of the period: the change in reported figures, comparable growth, and the increase excluding the impact of currency and energy.
Industrial investment decisions totalled €1.25 billion in the third quarter, taking the amount since the start of the year to more than €4.1 billion through the end of September. The project backlog reached a record €6.2 billion at the end of September, reflecting the scale of projects the company is carrying out. Under its BEYOND plan, announced on October 5 and running through 2030, Air Liquide is targeting about €24 billion in industrial investment decisions over the plan's duration. Its identified growth areas include Electronics and AI, the energy transition, healthcare and space. The company also said it had achieved €441 million in efficiency gains through the end of September 2026. The investment plan links the growth areas announced by the company with its goal of improving performance over several years.
The company maintained its target of a 100-basis-point increase in operating margin in 2026 and confirmed a further 100-basis-point improvement in 2027. That brings the cumulative target for margin improvement to 560 basis points over the 2022 to 2027 period. It also reaffirmed its forecast for recurring net profit growth in 2026 at constant exchange rates. Under the BEYOND plan, the company is targeting compound annual sales growth of 5%, plus or minus one percentage point, between 2026 and 2030, and an operating margin improvement of between 400 and 600 basis points over the period. It is also targeting compound annual growth in recurring earnings per share of 10%, plus or minus two percentage points, and recurring return on capital employed above 11% in 2030. These targets provide a long-term framework alongside the near-term margin goals the company reaffirmed.
Looking ahead, Air Liquide forecast fourth-quarter growth in line with the third quarter. The company said momentum was strong but noted that geopolitical disruptions were limiting visibility. The forecast follows comparable growth of 3% in the third quarter, according to the company's figures, after 3.5% in the second quarter and 1.9% in the first. The company did not specify another figure for fourth-quarter growth in its published forecast. In parallel, the buyback programme aims to complete the first tranche by the end of 2026, as part of a programme running through the end of 2028. The margin targets reaffirmed by the company apply to 2026 and 2027, while the broader BEYOND plan targets run through 2030.