Air Products And Chemicals 4Q Profit Declines

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. (AP) — Air Products and Chemicals Inc., which supplies oxygen and other gases to the industrial and medical sectors, on Wednesday said fiscal fourth-quarter earnings declined as sales slipped in all business segments.

Earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30 declined to $243.9 million, or $1.13 per share, from $261.6 million, or $1.21 per share, last year.

During the most recent quarter, the company recorded 10 cents per share for a bankruptcy charge and costs to write-down assets. Results also included a penny per share in losses from discontinued operations.

Income from continuing operations fell to $246 million, or $1.14 per share, from $273.4 million, or $1.26 per share.

Revenue declined 22 percent to $2.13 billion from a year ago and declined in all business segments, especially in tonnage gases, where sales declined 32 percent.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.12 per share and revenue of $2.1 billion.

For fiscal 2009, profit declined to $631.3 million, or $2.96 per share, compared with $909.7 million, or $4.15 per share, last year. Revenue slid 21 percent to $8.26 billion from $10.41 billion.

For the first quarter, the company expects earnings between $1.07 and $1.15 per share. Meanwhile, analysts expect a profit of $1.14 per share. For 2010, the company expects earnings between $4.65 and $4.90 per share, while Wall Street expects $4.76.

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals fell 72 cents to $82.52 in premarket trading.