(Reuters) -Industrial gases company Air Liquide (EPA:AIRP) reported first-quarter revenue on Thursday above expectations, helped by growth in its industrial merchant and electronics businesses.
The company said revenue rose 6.2% on a comparable basis to 7.17 billion euros ($7.92 billion), above the 7.06 billion euros expected by analysts polled by Vara Research.
Air Liquide, one of the largest hydrogen producers in the world, is seen as a beneficiary of global energy transition investments, supported by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the EU's net-zero emissions programme.
The company said it is considering 3.4 billion euros in investment opportunies in the next 12 months. More than 40% of those are linked to energy transition and are well balanced between America, Europe and Asia, it said.
"Clearly the IRA had a positive effect in terms of momentum and that was really a stimulus for many decision makers to accelerate the decision in Europe," CEO Francois Jackow told analysts.
He said energy transition projects in Europe were progressing well.
"Again, there's been a lot of focus on the IRA, but things are moving, and moving overall in the right direction I would say, in Europe," Jackow said.
Air Liquide's main gas and services division increased revenue by 6.7% in the quarter, driven by the Industrial Merchant business and Electronics.
Healthcare was the third growth driver thanks to an increase in medical gas prices and demand from home customers, it said.
The decline in the Large Industries business slowed, aided by more favourable energy prices in Europe.
Air Liquide said demand was stronger in Europe, especially from chemicals customers, while hydrogen volumes saw a "clear improvement" compared to the fourth quarter, especially in the Benelux region and Germany.
The group said it was confident it would increase its operating margin and deliver recurring net profit growth at constant exchange rates this year, as previously guided.
($1 = 0.9049 euros)