Linde Pakistan‘s– manufacturer and distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases – profitability grew 5% in 2012, where it reported a profit of Rs276.29 million compared to a profit of Rs262.88 million in the previous year.

In its board meeting on Wednesday, the company also approved investment plans as it seeks to install an air separation plant and relocate the existing plant at Taxila to Karachi.The board also announced a final cash payout of Rs5 per share for the year ended December 31, 2012.

According to a notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange, Linde will install an air separation plant in Muzaffargarh, Punjab. Moreover, as the company’s Lahore plant kicked-off operations in November, the board also approved relocation of the existing air separation plant from Taxila to Linde’s Port Qasim site to cater the increased demand in the southern region. The relocated plant is expected to commence commercial production by June 2013. The projects will cost Rs600 million, which will be funded with a combination of company’s internal resources and external borrowings.

The Lahore plant is the largest air separation plant in Pakistan, capable of producing 150 tons per day (tpd) of gaseous oxygen, nitrogen and argon for the merchant gases market. The investment value of the plant, along with related supply chain equipment, is more than Rs2 billion.

In 2012, Linde Pakistan also announced establishing a four megawatt power plant at Port Qasim with an investment of Rs556 million.Company’s revenues expanded 23% to Rs3.74 billion in 2012 against Rs3.05 billion. Gross margins remained flat at 25.5%, but gross profits swelled 24% to Rs0.954 billion during the year.

Moreover, the company incurred Rs205 million as reorganisation and restricting costs, while finance costs jumped twentyfold to Rs44.27 million in the year, despite a 450 basis points reduction in interest rates. Linde Pakistan had been financing its expansion plans through external borrowing; hence the company’s income statement was under pressure.