Air Liquide’s gas supply ‘well covered’ due to limited Russian exposure

(Reuters) -French industrial gas company Air Liquide said on Wednesday that the group is “well protected and well covered” in terms of gas supplies due to limited direct exposure to Russia.

Russia’s Gazprom halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday over their failure to pay for the gas in roubles, stepping up an economic war with Europe in response to Western sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict.

“We have different sources on the European market, and actually, we have even reduced our limited exposure to the gas coming from Russia”, Executive Vice President Francois Jackow said during a call with analysts.

Jackow said that a possible ban on Russian energy imports could impact Air Liquide’s customers.

“So overall, there could be an impact, which could lead to a reduction in volume from our customers, which could impact our activity and which, of course, can increase also the cost of natural gas supply,” Jackow said.

But the group, which supplies gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to factories and hospitals, expects to be able to pass on any further price increase to customers.

Air Liquide reported sales of 6.89 billion euros ($7.33 billion) for the first three months of the year, above analysts’ forecast of 6.76 billion euros, as higher pricing offset a sharp increase in energy prices.

“There was strong growth in this first quarter, which reflects a good level of activity and demonstrates the group’s resilience in a context marked, notably, by inflation and the war in Ukraine,” CEO Benoit Potier said in a statement.

The group reiterated that it was confident in its ability to further increase its operating margin and to deliver recurring net profit growth at constant exchange rates in 2022.

($1 = 0.9395 euros)

(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Tom Hogue, Subhranshu Sahu and Jane Merriman)