Staying on Track. The Linde Financial Report 2008. Linde financial highlights January to December Change in € million 2008 2007 (in percent) Share Closing price € 59.85 90.45 – 33.8 Year high € 97.90 91.75 6.7 Year low € 46.51 75.26 – 38.2 Market capitalisation (at year-end closing price) 10,084 15,046 – 33.0 Adjusted earnings per share1 € 5.46 5.02 8.8 Earnings per share € 4.27 5.87 – 27.2 Number of shares outstanding (in 000s) 168,492 166,347 1.3 Sales 12,663 12,306 2.9 Operating profit2 2,555 2,424 5.4 EBIT before amortisation of fair value adjustments and non-recurring items 1,703 1,591 7.0 Earnings after taxes on income 776 1,013 – 23.4 Number of employees 51,908 50,485 2.8 Gases Division Sales 9,515 9,209 3.3 Operating profit 2,417 2,314 4.5 Engineering Division Sales 3,016 2,750 9.7 Operating profit 267 240 11.3 1 Adjusted for the effects of the purchase price allocation and non-recurring items. 2 EBITDA before non-recurring items including share of income from associates and joint ventures. Corporate profile The Linde Group Gases Division The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company The Linde Group is a world leader in the international gases market. with almost 52,000 employees working in around 100 countries world- We offer a wide range of compressed and liquefied gases as well as wide. In the 2008 financial year, it achieved sales of EUR 12.663 bn. chemicals and we are therefore an important and reliable partner for The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earn- a huge variety of industries. Our gases are used, for example, in the ings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international energy sector, in steel production, chemical processing, environmen- business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts tal protection and welding, as well as in food processing, glass pro- responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, duction and electronics. We are also investing in the expansion of our society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, fast-growing Healthcare business, i.e. medical gases, and we are a regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technol- leading global player in the development of environmentally friendly ogies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustain- hydrogen technology. able development. Engineering Division Organisation Our Engineering Division is successful throughout the world, with its The Group comprises three divisions: Gases and Engineering (the focus on promising market segments such as olefin plants, natural two core divisions) and Gist (logistics services). The largest division, gas plants and air separation plants, as well as hydrogen and synthe- Gases, has four operating segments, Western Europe, the Americas, sis gas plants. In contrast to virtually all our competitors, we are able Asia & Eastern Europe, and South Pacific & Africa, which are subdi- to call on our own extensive process engineering know-how in the vided into nine Regional Business Units (RBUs). The Gases Division planning, project development and construction of turnkey industrial also includes the two Global Business Units (GBUs) – Healthcare plants. Linde plants are used in a wide variety of fields: in the petro- (medical gases) and Tonnage (on-site) – and the two Business Areas chemical and chemical industries, in refineries and fertiliser plants, to (BAs) – Merchant & Packaged Gases (liquefied and cylinder gases) recover air gases, to produce hydrogen and synthesis gases, to treat and Electronics (electronic gases). natural gas and in the pharmaceutical industry. Staying on Track. The Linde Financial Report 2008. Inside front cover: Linde financial highlights and Corporate profile 002 Linde Financial Report 2008 CONTENTS Contents C 1 Linde financial highlights EX ec U 1 tive C Corporate profile board S U pervisor 004 – 007 034 – 093 Executive Board Group Management Report Y board 004 Members of the Executive Board 035 Macroeconomic environment 006 Letter to shareholders 037 Sector-specific background 039 Value-based and operational management corporate 041 Business review of The Linde Group governance 043 Gases Division 008 – 015 050 Engineering Division Supervisory Board 057 Other activities 008 Members of the Supervisory Board 058 Net assets and financial position L 010 Report of the Supervisory Board 061 Cash flow statement inde 061 Summary of the 2008 financial year shares 062 Financing and measures to safeguard liquidity 064 Capital expenditure 065 Purchasing 016 – 029 066 Research and development G ro Corporate Governance 070 Corporate responsibility U P report 077 Risk report management 017 Corporate governance report 085 Disclosures in accordance with 022 Remuneration report § 315 (4) HGB and commentary 088 Events after the balance sheet date 089 Dividends 090 Outlook gro statements U P financial 030 – 033 Linde Shares financial N otes to the statements gro U P FU rther information 1 Front cover. Linde Financial Report 2008 003 CONTENTS board tive U ec EX 094 –193 194 – 204 Group Financial Statements Further Information board Y 095 Group income statement 195 Other Board memberships pervisor U 096 Group balance sheet 196 Board memberships of the Supervisory Board S 098 Statement of recognised 197 Board memberships of the Executive Board income and expense 198 Responsibility statement 100 Group cash flow statement 102 Segment information 200 Management organisation governance 202 Review of the year Notes to the Group Financial Statements 204 Imprint and Contact details corporate 107 General principles C 2 Financial calendar 121 Notes to the Group income shares statement C 2 Five-year summary inde 126 Notes to the Group balance sheet L 157 Other information C 2 Glossary 192 Declaration of the Executive Board 193 Auditors’ report management report P U ro G financial P U statements gro P U gro the statements to otes N financial information rther FU 2 Back cover. 004 Linde Financial Report 2008 EXecUtive Board – Members of the Executive Board Executive Board Professor Dr Wolfgang Reitzle J. Kent Masters EX Born 1949 Born 1960 ec UT Doctorate in Engineering (Dr.-Ing.), BS Chemical Engineering, I V E B Degree in Economics and Engineering MBA Finance OA R Chief Executive Officer Responsible for the operating segments Americas and South D Responsible for Gist and the following global and central Pacific & Africa, the Global Business Unit Healthcare and the functions: Communications & Investor Relations, Corporate Business Area Merchant & Packaged Gases (liquefied and S U Strategy, Group Human Resources, Group Information Services, cylinder gases) pervisor Group Legal, Innovation Management, Internal Audit, Member of the Executive Board since 2006 SHEQ (Safety, Health, Environment, Quality), Six Sigma Y board Member of the Executive Board since 2002 Georg Denoke Born 1965 Dr Aldo Belloni Degree in Information Science, corporate Born 1950 Degree in Business Administration (BA) Doctorate in Chemical Engineering (Dr.-Ing.) Responsible for the following global and central functions: governance Responsible for the Engineering Division, the operating Capital Expenditure, Financial Control, Group Accounting segments Western Europe and Asia & Eastern Europe, & Reporting, Group Treasury, Growth & Performance, the Global Business Unit Tonnage (on-site) and the Business Mergers & Acquisitions, Procurement, Risk Management, Tax Area Electronics (electronic gases) Human Resources Director Member of the Executive Board since 2000 Member of the Executive Board since 2006 L inde shares G ro U P report management gro statements U P financial financial N otes to the statements gro U P FU rther information From left to right: Georg Denoke, Professor Dr Wolfgang Reitzle, J. Kent Masters, Dr Aldo Belloni. 006 Linde Financial Report 2008 EXECUTIVE BOARD – Letter to shareholders Letter to shareholders EX ec UT I V E B OA R D The year 2008 was characterised by the onset of the financial and economic crisis. Even our Group began to feel the effects of the global recession. Towards the end of the year, a significant decline in demand S U became apparent in some regions. Nevertheless, we were able to meet our targets for the 2008 financial pervisor year in full. Group sales increased by 8.4 percent after adjusting for exchange rate effects to EUR 12.663 bn, while Group operating profit, also after adjusting for exchange rate effects, rose by 10.3 percent to EUR Y board 2.555 bn. We have therefore continued to grow and, as announced, increased our profitability at a faster rate than sales. Significant increases were also to be seen in other key performance indicators. ROCE rose to 12.4 percent (2007: 10.3 percent), and the Group achieved an increase in earnings per share adjusted for corporate non-recurring items of almost 9 percent to EUR 5.46 (2007: EUR 5.02). governance This really solid business performance, in a year in which the environment became increasingly difficult as it drew to its close, indicates that our extensive reorganisation has proved worthwhile. We swiftly concluded the integration of BOC and, by focusing on our global gases and plant construction business, have become less dependent on economic cycles than we were previously. L This continuity is also reflected in our earnings-based dividend policy, a long-standing tradition in Linde. The inde Executive Board and Supervisory Board will recommend at the Annual General Meeting on 15 May 2009 that shares a dividend of EUR 1.80 per share be paid. Compared with the prior year dividend of EUR 1.70, this represents an increase of nearly 6 percent. In the current financial year 2009 we, like every other company, will be faced with major challenges. G ro Business cycle analysts are expecting 2009 to usher in the most significant downturn in the global economy U P report since the Second World War.