PX P10 Inc

   By Anne Steele 
 

Industrial-gas company Praxair Inc. (PX) lowered its earnings forecast for the year and gave a downbeat outlook for the fourth quarter amid soft manufacturing activity in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Chief Executive Steve Angel, who had said currency translation headwinds would ease though underlying economic improvement was unlikely for the second half of the year, called the third-quarter results mixed.

Mr. Angel noted "strong demand in more resilient food, beverage and healthcare markets, but persistent weakness from industrial sectors like manufacturing and upstream energy."

The company sells packaged gases including atmospheric gases found in air like carbon dioxide, hydrogen and helium. Lower volumes in North and South America due to weaker manufacturing activity in the U.S. and Brazil offset volume growth from new on-site projects, primarily in South America, Asia and Europe.

For 2016, Praxair now expects adjusted per-share earnings in the range of $5.44 to $5.51, compared with its previous guidance for earnings of $5.45 to $5.60 a share. For the fourth quarter, Praxair expects per-share earnings in the range of $1.36 to $1.43, while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected $1.46 a share.

In all for the September quarter, Praxair reported a profit of $339 million, or $1.18 a share, down from $401 million, or $1.40 a share, a year earlier. Excluding a charge, the company earned $1.41 a share; it expected per-share earnings in the range of $1.35 to $1.42.

Sales rose 1.1% to $2.72 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting $2.7 billion. Praxair said the top line was dented 1% by currency translation.

Shares, which have climbed 8.5% in the past 12 months, were inactive premarket.

Write to Anne Steele at anne.steele@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2016 08:38 ET (12:38 GMT)

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