Air Liquide Reports 2% Growth in 2025 and Raises Margin Targets Through 2027
On Friday, Air Liquide released its 2025 results, showing a comparable revenue increase of 2.0% to 26.94 billion euros and a rebound in operating income by 7.6% on a comparable basis. The group has raised its operating margin targets through 2027 and expresses confidence for 2026.
Revenue and Sector Performance
The group's consolidated revenue reached 26.94 billion euros in 2025, marking a comparable increase of 2.0% from 2024. Published sales saw a slight decline of 0.4%, affected by a negative currency exchange impact of 3.2%, primarily due to the depreciation of the American dollar, partially offset by a favorable energy effect of 0.8%. The Gas & Services sector, accounting for 26.09 billion euros, grew by 2.0% on a comparable basis, driven by growth across all geographies and businesses. The Industrial Merchant sector grew by 1.9% with a very strong price effect of 2.9%, while the Large Industries benefited from new volumes of hydrogen and air gases in the United States, South Korea, and China. The Electronics sector recorded a growth of 1.2%, masking a dynamic of 5.8% excluding the normalization of equipment after a record year in 2024. The Healthcare sector showed a robust increase of 5.0%, particularly in home healthcare in Europe and Latin America.
Operational Results and Financial Health
The current operating income increased by 7.6% on a comparable basis to 5.58 billion euros, significantly outpacing sales growth and demonstrating strong leverage. Operational efficiencies reached a record level of 631 million euros, up 27% from 497 million euros in 2024, significantly exceeding the annual target of 400 million euros from the ADVANCE plan. Excluding the energy effect, the operating margin improved by 100 basis points, with a cumulative improvement of 360 basis points over four years since 2022. The group's net income reached 3.52 billion euros, up 6.4% in published data and 10.1% excluding currency effects. Recurring net income was 3.68 billion euros, up 6.2% in published data. Earnings per share increased by 6.3% to 6.10 euros. The cash flow amounted to 6.86 billion euros, up 4.8% in published data and 8.3% excluding currency effects. Net debt decreased by 743 million euros to 8.42 billion euros as of December 31, 2025, after paying out 2.1 billion euros in dividends and over 4.1 billion euros in industrial and financial investments.
Future Outlook and Governance
Air Liquide has raised and extended its margin improvement ambition for 2026 and 2027, confirming an additional target of 100 basis points in 2026 excluding energy effects, along with a new target of 100 basis points for 2027. This cumulative ambition amounts to 560 basis points over the period 2022-2027. The group also expresses confidence in the growth of recurring net income in 2026 at constant exchange rates. The committed investments will reach 4.2 billion euros in 2025, while the backlog of ongoing investments stands at 4.9 billion euros and the opportunity portfolio at a record level of 4.6 billion euros, with more than 40% in Electronics. The group finalized the acquisition of DIG Airgas in South Korea on January 13, 2026, signed in August 2025. Regarding governance, the board of directors on February 19, 2026, decided to maintain separate governance and renew François Jackow as CEO and Benoît Potier as chairman for another four years. A dividend of 3.70 euros per share, up 12.1% from 2024, will be proposed for the vote at the general meeting on May 5, 2026, complemented by a free share allocation of one for every ten held and a loyalty bonus in June 2026.
