Board of
directors
" To recognize and reward our inventors and innovators, Air Liquide is strengthening the link this year between their contributions and the company’s long-term performance. "
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THIERRY PEUGEOT,Member of the Audit and Accounts Committee
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GÉRARD DE LA MARTINIÈRE,Chairman of the Audit and Accounts Committee
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KAREN KATEN,Member of the Appointments and Governance Committee
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JEAN-PAUL AGON,Member of the Remuneration Committee
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ALAIN JOLY,Member of the Appointments and Governance Committee, member of the Remuneration Committee
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BENOÎT POTIER,Chairman and CEO
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SIÂN HERBERT-JONES,Director
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THIERRY DESMAREST,Chairman of the Appointments and Governance Committee – Member of the Remuneration Committee
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PAUL SKINNER,Member of the Audit and Accounts Committee
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BÉATRICE MAJNONI D’INTIGNANO,Member of the Audit and Accounts Committee
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CORNELIS VAN LEDE,Chairman of the Remuneration Committee – Member of the Appointments and Governance Committee
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PIERRE DUFOUR,Senior Executive Vice-President
2012, december 31
Executive management
and executive committee
they say...
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"Innovation reflects our mindset, constant curiosity and willingness to challenge ourselves. It is a core component of our competitiveness and long term growth."
Benoît Potier
Chairman and CEO
Born in 1957 – French -
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"It is through innovation that we sustain our business, finding new applications for elementary molecules. We have been successfully leveraging our innovation culture for 110 years!"
Pierre Dufour
Senior Executive Vice-President(a)
Born in 1955 – Canadian
(a) Also supervising the Large Industries World Business Line. -
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"Competing for new markets, expanding technologically and geographically; it is innovation, and our ability to apply it operationally that is driving our success and progress."
Jean-Pierre Duprieu
Executive Vice-President(b)
Born in 1952 - French
(b) Also supervising the Healthcare World Business Line and the Welding Activities -
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"We offer employees the autonomy and the space to give full expression to their creativity in performing their professional responsibilities."
François Abrial
Vice-President, Human Resources
Born in 1962 – French -
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"Innovation is what drives our commitment to customers, communities, employees and shareholders to deliver the best there is to offer and to do so with the utmost attention to safety and reliability."
Michael J. Graff
Senior Vice-President, Americas, also supervising the Electronics WBL and Safety and Industrial Systems
Born in 1955 – American -
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"Innovation requires audacity and tenacity. But even more, it means embracing the inconceivable and the unexpected – this is what we must demand of our imagination!"
François Darchis
Senior Vice-President Research & Development - New business - Innovation & Technologies, Intellectual Property, Engineering and Construction, Industrial Merchant WBL
Born in 1956 – French -
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"The development of innovative financing tools supports worldwide growth of the Group’s activities and contributes to our performance."
Fabienne Lecorvaisier
Group Vice-President, Finance and Operations Control, also supervising the Diving Activities
Born in 1962 – French -
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"Asia combines the drive of middle classes and a readiness to adopt new ideas, regardless of origin; its creativity boosts our business."
Jean-Marc de Royere
Senior Vice-President, Asia-Pacific
Born in 1965 – French -
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"Offering our customers the innovative solutions that allow them to improve productivity while reducing their environmental footprint."
Augustin de Roubin
Vice-President, South America
Born in 1953 – French -
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"Continuing to strengthen our strategic positions in mature economies while exploring emerging markets in order to accelerate our growth."
Guy Salzgeber
Vice-President, Western Europe
Born in 1958 – French -
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"Innovation means finding new ways of doing business, whether developing a technical process like gasification or creating a new business model for bulk hydrogen."
Mok Kwong Weng
Vice-President, North-East Asia & South-East Asia
Born in 1953 – Singaporean -
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"Uncompromising commitment combined with an inventive spirit enable us to fulfill our mission: protecting vulnerable lives.”
Pascal Vinet
Vice-President, Healthcare Global Operations
Born in 1962 – French
2013, january 31
Geography
americas
€3,108M Gas & Services revenue
in 2012
europe
€7,025M Gas & Services revenue
in 2012
asia-pacific
€3,416M Gas & Services revenue
in 2012
middle east & africa
€363M Gas & Services revenue
in 2012
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Falling energy prices in the U.S. helped spur new project development in refining, chemicals and steel, contributing to Air Liquide’s solid sales growth, especially of hydrogen. Industrial distributor acquisitions and Canada’s strong home healthcare market drove North America revenue growth. In South America, there was dynamic growth in the industrial sector as well as in Healthcare, particularly in Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
+7.8% 2012 Large Industries activity in the Americas22% of Gas & Services revenue
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In Europe, the Group’s largest market, growth was mixed between advanced and developing economies, with Gas & Services 2012 revenue increasing 25% in the latter. The newly created Eastern Europe zone is intended to increase customer proximity, especially in Russia and Poland. Hydrogen demand in the chemical and refining industries remained robust throughout Europe while the increase in Healthcare revenue, which represents 28% of Gas & Services zone revenue, reflects the market’s high potential growth.
+25% 2012 Eastern Europe Gas & Services revenue50% of Gas & Services revenue
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Continued strong Gas & Services sales in China (+15%) reflects across-the-board customer demand, which firmed up at the end of the year. The Engineering & Construction business, which has a manufacturing center in Hangzhou, also won several energy contracts. Air Liquide won recognition in Paris and Beijing among French companies operating in China for its remarkable record of growth in the country from 2001 to 2011. Electronics, with two-thirds of its business concentrated in Asia, showed signs of recovery toward year end, including several contract wins with next generation flat screen manufacturers in Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and China.
4,000 employees in Chinain 201225% of Gas & Services revenue
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While business in 2011 had been impacted by the region’s political turmoil, double-digit growth was achieved in 2012. Key drivers included the ramp-up of new production units in the Middle East as well as a recovery in demand from industrial customers. The enormous construction site for the hydrogen production unit in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, the Group’s biggest investment, is progressing according to schedule thanks to the efforts of mobilized teams. The Healthcare business continues to achieve solid growth, particularly in South Africa and Tunisia. The region offers increasing development opportunities as a result of energy-related projects and a demand for new technologies.
More than €300M in 2012 Gas & Services revenue3% of Gas & Services revenue
Our businessesin the news
The Engineering & Construction business unit designs, develops and builds cutting-edge production units, including for industrial gases, clean energy conversion, and gas purification. Its clean and sustainable energy solutions enable internal and external customers to optimize use of the planet’s natural resources. Its 15 engineering centers, three manufacturing workshops and global business network combine worldwide expertise and agility to deliver customized responses to local customer challenges. With over 1,600 patents, the business unit is constantly expanding its portfolio of proprietary technologies bundled under the Lurgi, Cryogenics and Zimmer brands, reinforcing the Group’s competitive edge in new markets.
A leader in the development of welding and cutting technologies, Air Liquide Welding offers a full range of equipment (electrical welding stations, etc.), support products (electrodes, etc.) and services for industrial, semi-professional and retail customers. Backed by its R&D team and CTAS (Technical Center for Welding Applications), Air Liquide Welding innovates constantly to improve the performance, productivity, safety and comfort of weld machine operators.
Aqua Lung, the world’s leading provider of diving equipment, provides devices that maximize the safety of customers in extreme situations. In 1946, Air Liquide and Jacques Cousteau worked together to invent the first scuba pressure valve, leading to the creation of Spirotechnique, which later became Aqua Lung International. Over the past decade, Aqua Lung has been expanding its range of products and expertise to serve recreational and fitness swimming, scuba diving and paddling.
Air Liquide offers solutions that meet the critical gas and energy needs of industrial customers, mainly in the steel, chemicals, refining and energy sectors. Through its vast global network of pipelines and production units — including more than 300 Air Separation Units (ASU ), 200 hydrogen plants (including 43 large-scale units) and 17 cogeneration plants — Air Liquide supplies customers with large quantities of oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and steam. The objective: highly efficient customer processes and more eco-friendly production units.
The Industrial Merchant business line provides customers with solutions adapted to their manufacturing processes, including industrial and specialty gases and expertise in applications as well as related equipment and services. Its 20,000 employees operate in 54 market segments, using inventiveness to optimize performance for more than one million customers, ranging from multinational corporations to selfemployed craftspeople. Through its ongoing practical innovations, customer proximity and broad geographic range, Air Liquide supports industrial customers in their long-term development.
Protecting vulnerable lives is the mission of Air Liquide’s Healthcare activity, which provides support for patients throughout the duration of their treatment, from hospital to home. A dedicated team of more than 10,000 employees worldwide supplies more than 7,500 hospitals and clinics with medical gases (including oxygen, nitrous oxide and nitric oxide) and serves more than one million patients at home. Air Liquide is number one in Europe and number three worldwide in home healthcare. It provides home healthcare services, according to the medical prescription, to patients suffering from chronic diseases such as COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), sleep apnea and diabetes. Air Liquide is also present in the areas of hygiene and specialty ingredients.
With its global infrastructure and strategic presence in key Asian markets, Air Liquide is the leading supplier of gas and related services for the world’s major electronics device manufacturers. Its integrated offering includes ultra-pure carrier gases, specialty gases and advanced precursors used in semiconductors, flat panel displays and solar photovoltaic cells, as well as turnkey installation of molecule distribution equipment, onsite quality control and fluid management services. Through continuous innovation on new molecules, Air Liquide has strengthened its position to respond to growing consumer demand for smaller laptops and increasingly powerful tablets, smartphones and flat screens.
Strategically located to provide flexible, efficient and sustainable solutions to new and existing energy development customers in Alberta, Canada, the newest engineering center, opened in 2012 in Calgary, reinforces Air Liquide’s growing North American presence.
With the December 2012 signing of a contract with Metinvest, Ukraine’s leading manufacturer of steel, Air Liquide acquired an ASU located onsite at the Yenakievo steel plant and began supplying oxygen, nitrogen and argon in February 2013, as well as working to upgrade equipment and reduce energy consumption. Present at Yenakievo since 2011, Air Liquide is already building an ASU scheduled for start up in 2014.
Air Liquide’s new offer for offshore oil and gas customers delivers a comprehensive solution available in all major operating regions. Its line of products and equipment are designed to respond to specific sector requirements including gas for platform construction, operation and maintenance, compliance with quality and safety standards, adapted packaging, facilitated logistics and comprehensive commercial services.
With its 2012 acquisition of two major companies — Gasmedi in Spain and LVL Médical in France — Air Liquide reinforced its position as Europe’s leading home healthcare specialist and demonstrated its ability to select projects creating both short and long term value.
Responding to growing customer demand, Air Liquide introduced a next-generation onsite fluorine cleaning gas solution for flat panel display manufacturing through its FidelioTM global Joint-Venture with Solvay. The new environmentally friendly alternative eliminates large screen manufacturing byproducts, offering a cost effective, productivity-enhancing, reliable approach.
€785M
revenue
(in million euros)
(in million euros)
€5,015M
revenue
(in million euros)
(in million euros)
€5,193M
revenue
(in million euros)
(in million euros)
€2,482M
revenue
(in million euros)
(in million euros)
€1,222M
revenue
(in million euros)
(in million euros)
Engineering & construction
Welding
Diving
Large industries
Industrial merchant
Healthcare
Electronics
air liquide foundation:commitmentto the future
The Air Liquide Foundation supports corporate philanthropy actions in three areas: scientific research for the preservation of the environment, scientific research for the improvement of the respiratory function and support for micro-initiatives for local development in the countries where the Group is present.
Visit air liquide foundation websiteStaying in touch with shareholders
section
on air liquide.com
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