Chemicals & Ingredients Sector "2 UBS conferences; 6 covered companies in ..."

Research evidence excerpt

Chemicals & Ingredients Sector "2 UBS conferences; 6 covered companies in ..."

could

prove temporary and underlying oversupply issues remain unchanged. If you would

like to discuss the feedback in more detail please do get in touch to schedule a

call with the team.

UBS Best of Europe Conference:

Air Liquide (host: Joseph Marczely, IR North America)

Air Liquide struck a cautious but incrementally more constructive tone on fundamentals,

with management emphasizing that current areas of strength remain relatively selective

rather than indicative of a broader cyclical recovery. While management, on the 1Q26

conference call, guided for Q2 organic sales growth to be broadly similar to the 1.9%

delivered in Q1, there was cautious optimism of some modest sequential improvement

given robust trends through April and early May. Improving activity on the US Gulf Coast

and continued momentum in electronics were highlighted as key positives, while Europe

- particularly chemicals and refining - remains weak and likely requires further

restructuring/rightsizing. Electronics continues to emerge as the company's key

structural growth driver, with backlog and project opportunities increasingly skewed

toward semis following the DIG acquisition, while hydrogen and broader energy-

transition momentum in the US have moderated versus prior expectations. Air Liquide

also pointed to the potential for additional disclosure at the 1 October CMD, with IR

indicating there would be greater granularity on medium term financial targets; with

targets likely to also extend to top line and returns (on top of the existing margin

targets), as well as increased clarity on capital allocation priorities. Overall, the tone

remained pragmatic on near-term guidance, but increasingly constructive on the