Linde Bangladesh has reported a profit of Tk 98.6 million for the third quarter to September, supported by higher revenue and increased finance income.
The multinational industrial gas producer had earned Tk 6.08 billion in the same quarter last year, driven by one-off income from selling its welding business for Tk 7.72 billion.
Therefore, profit growth is not expected in this case.
Linde sold its welding business subsidiary - Linde Industries Pvt Ltd - in September last year to the American-Swedish industrial company ESAB Group. The company disbursed around Tk 6.85 billion to its shareholders as cash dividends from the sale proceeds.
Had the one-off income not been taken into consideration, the company would have been seen as
having made a loss of Tk 1.64 billion in July-September last year.
This year, the company's revenue rose 10 per cent year-on-year to Tk 588 million in July-September. Increased finance income from bank deposits also helped the company achieve higher profits, according to its earnings note.
Due to the sell-off of the subsidiary, Linde's annual profit was Tk 6.42 billion in 2024.
The company disbursed a record 4,500 per cent cash dividend, including a 4,100 per cent interim dividend, for 2024. This was the highest-ever cash dividend in the capital market history of Bangladesh.
Linde sold its welding electrode business as it stumbled upon extreme volatility in the foreign exchange market amid higher input costs due to fluctuations in international raw material prices.
Linde did good business in 2021, particularly in the medical segment, as the need for medical oxygen shot up for COVID patients suffering from breathing distress in hospitals.
As the pandemic waned and raw material prices skyrocketed due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, revenue from the segment kept falling.
Meanwhile, the stock of Linde slid 1 per cent to Tk 840 per share on Thursday on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
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