Bad Soden, Germany,
02
July
2020
|
16:30
Europe/Amsterdam

Messer doubles sales in 2019

Industrial gases specialist realigns sustainability objectives

Fiscal year 2019 marked a milestone in Messer’s development as a new global player through the acquisition of most of the gases business of Linde AG in North America as well as individual business activities of Linde and Praxair in South America. This is also clearly evidenced by the company’s results: Including the at-equity investment in Messer Industries, Messer generated consolidated sales of about 2.8 billion euros* in the past fiscal year. In the previous year, the sales of the largest family-run industrial gases specialist worldwide amounted 1.35 billion euros.

EBITDA rose from 366 million euros to 695 million euros*. That results in a current EBITDA margin of 25 percent*.

Further improvement in environmental and climate protection
Since this year, Messer has aligned its business activities with the 17 UN Sustainability Goals, which are part of the Agenda 2030 of the United Nations. The actions of Messer's around 11,000 employees* in Europe, Asia and America are based on a total of 34 goals, such as safety, environmental protection and equal rights within the company.

In fiscal year 2019, among other things, the lost time injury severity rate fell from 64 to 45.6*. The specific CO2e footprint – i.e. the emissions intensity – of production plants and gases logistics is measured as coefficient CO2e per euro of sales. At Messer Group including Western Europe it improved from 2.50 kilograms CO2e in 2018 to 2.10 in 2019. The number of production and filling plants certified according to the international standard for environmental management, ISO 14001, rose from 23 to a total of 57* in 2019.

The proportion of women in the Group has trended upward: during the fiscal year, it was 29.5* percent overall and 26.2* in the first and second management level. In 2018, women represented 23 percent of the total workforce; women held 25 percent of the positions in first and second management levels.

The Corporate Responsibility Report and Annual Reports are available for download here.

* Sum of Messer Group and Messer Industries including 100 percent of the at-equity investment in Messer Industries from 1 March 2019 onwards.