Linde Bangladesh sees 30-fold rise in profit

Linde Bangladesh Ltd, a leading medical and industrial gas supplier, saw a massive surge in its profit in the July-September quarter of 2024 compared to the corresponding period last year, according to its latest quarterly financial statements.

In the third quarter of this year, the company reported a profit of Tk 608.74 crore, accounting for the lion's share of its Tk 628.59 crore profit in the first nine months of 2024.

In the July-September quarter of 2023, Linde's profit was Tk 20.52 crore. As such, its EPS stood Tk 13.48, according to Linde Bangladesh's quarterly financial statements published last year. 

However, the company in its latest financial statements said its profit was Tk 2 crore for July-September period of 2023 and its basic and diluted EPS for that period stood at Tk 1.51 and Tk 400.01 for the third quarter of 2024

Significant capital gains were the driving factor behind the huge jump, the company said in a disclosure on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website.

In early September, the multinational company disclosed that it would sell shares of its subsidiary, Linde Industries Pvt Ltd, to ESAB Group, an American-Swedish industrial company.

Following the earnings report, the company's share price rallied 7.49 percent, rising from Tk 942.3 to close at Tk 1,012.9 at the DSE yesterday.

However, Linde's net asset value per share (NAVPS) dropped year-on-year from Tk 387.33 to Tk 220.31 in the third quarter.

"The NAVPS decreased due to the interim dividend payment for the period ending on October 31, 2023 and July 31, 2024," the company said in the disclosure.

Linde Bangladesh had recommended an astonishing 4,100 percent cash dividend for the January to July period this year, the highest since it was listed on the DSE.

A member of Linde PLC, a global leader in industrial gases, Linde has been operating for over 70 years in Bangladesh, supplying sectors from healthcare to manufacturing through its extensive production facilities and market presence.