IT 
en
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Chart Industries made more sales in 2014 than it did in 2013 despite the beginnings of a slowdown in shale gas.
The global maker of equipment to liquefy gases, including industrial, biomedical and natural gas, cut expenses in the fall of 2014 and turned to its traditional industrial gas and energy and chemical divisions to keep business booming.
In a report issued this morning -- which was followed by a 10:30 a.m. public teleconference with investors and analysts -- the company said:
> Net income or profit in 2014 was $81.9 million, or $2.67 per share on sales of $1.193 billion.
> Net income in 2013 was $83.2 million, or $2.60 per share on sales totaling $1.177 billion.
> Net income for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $26.9 million, or $0.88 per share, on sales of $326.1 million.
> Net income for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $23.2 million, or $0.71 per share, on sales of $303.8 million.
> Sales and profits in 2015 could be lower because of increased competition, a strong dollar, much lower oil prices and changes in Chinese air pollution standards.
The straight forward report and straight talk during the conference call seemed to impress investors who by the noon hour had driven up the price of the company's share on the NASDAQ by about 20 percent to $37.60. That early enthusiasm damped in the afternoon and the share price closed at $34.79, still up 11 percent from Monday.
At the conclusion of the 90-minute Q&A with investors, Sam Thomas, Chart's chairman, president and CEO, summed up the situation:
"As I said earlier 2015 is a challenging year.
"We thought we had a very good growth platform with LNG. The price of oil has drawn that into question and caused a cyclic downturn. But our balance sheet has been structured to enable us to do that.
"We all prefer to be operating in a business where growth is significant and opportunities seem imminent and we are producing growing earnings. We don't have that luxury. [But] We run and we have a group of people who are used to running a cyclic business."
In a statement issued earlier accompanying the report, the company said the strong dollar, lower oil prices -- and therefore diesel fuel prices -- and a slowdown in LNG applications, particularly in China, could reduce results in 2015.
"We delivered better than anticipated results in the [fourth] quarter on improved project execution in Energy and Chemicals [division] and strong global results in our Distribution and Storage industrial gas business," said Sam Thomas, Chart's chairman, president and CEO, in a statement accompanying the report.
"Those results were partially offset by declines in BioMedical respiratory therapy sales and Distribution and Storage LNG sales in both the U.S. and China."
Based on the company's current backlog of orders, sales in 2015 are expected to range between $1.05 billion and $1.2 billion, in other words, possibly as high as 2014 but probably a bit lower.
"We expect growth in our core industrial gas and biomedical markets in 2015. We are quoting significant LNG liquefaction and distribution opportunities, which could result in orders during late 2015 or 2016 that, if obtained, could prove to be larger than any Chart has captured in the past. However, 2015 will present significant operational performance challenges driven by lower oil prices and a stronger U.S. dollar," the report noted.
Source: Cleveland.com
