Interview with Jérôme Pelletan
Air Liquide demonstrated the resilience of its diversified business model, which is based on the excellent fit between its different businesses and balanced geographical coverage.
How would you assess Air Liquide’s 2024 financial performance?
Air Liquide shrugged off muted market conditions in Europe, Asia, and the United States to record solid results yet again in 2024. It is a performance that we owe to each and every one of our employees, and I extend my heartfelt thanks to them for everything that they do to contribute to the Group’s success. In these challenging circumstances, investment opportunities have never been greater and exceeded €4 billion, a record. Under our ADVANCE strategic plan, we targeted a significant improvement in operating margin of +160 basis points by 2025. After doubling that goal in 2024, we decided to raise our target again in 2025 to an unprecedented level. We are now aiming to improve our margin by +460 basis points in five years, over the 2022-2026 period.
On March 6, 2024, the Group’s market capitalization exceeded €100 billion for the first time ever, making us one of the top-eight largest firms in the CAC 40 index by market cap. While the share price fluctuated over the course of 2024, exceeding this threshold was a strong signal of the confidence that our investors have in Air Liquide’s model.
What are the drivers that will power the Group’s future growth?
Developing new markets is a key driver and has been since we launched our ADVANCE strategic plan. One of the main ones is the energy transition, which accounts for approximately 40% of our investment opportunities today. We are supporting many customers as they take action to decarbonize their businesses.