(AOF) – Air Liquide Korea and Lotte Chemical, a major player in Korea, are creating a joint venture to develop the hydrogen supply chain for mobility markets in South Korea. The two companies will invest through the joint venture in a new generation of large-scale hydrogen conditioning centers in Daesan and Ulsan. They anticipate significant synergies and developments contributing to the emergence of a hydrogen economy in Korea.
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Key points
– Second in the world behind Linde-Praxair in industrial and medical gases, born in 1902;
– Sales of €23.3 billion structured in 3 branches: gas and industrial services for 96%, engineering and construction then GMT -global markets and technologies;
– Balance of revenues by geographical area – the Americas for 38%, Europe for 33%, Asia-Pacific for 22%;
– Business model based on multi-year contracts (1/3 of revenue generated by twenty-year contracts) and long-term industrial partnerships offering good visibility of future results and an operating margin of more than 20%;
– Open capital, with 33% individual shareholders and 2.5% for employees; François Jackow is the new Group Managing Director from June 2022;
– Healthy balance sheet, with net debt rated A, reduced to €10.4 billion, or 58.5% of shareholders’ equity.
Challenges
– Advance 2015 strategy with 3 priorities 1 – financial performance: annual increase of 5 to 6% in turnover, profitability of more than 10% of capital employed and reduction of absolute CO2 emissions from 2025, via investment decisions €16 billion between 2022-2025, half of which devoted to energy transition – 2 – decarbonisation of industry, via the supply of low-carbon industrial gases, CO2 capture & management – 3 – technological innovation addressed to 5 professions: hydrogen mobility, electronics, health, industrial merchant and high technologies – space, cryogenics, quantum…;
– Innovation strategy funded to the tune of +€300m, aiming for operational excellence, openness to core business or disruptive technologies, through: global network of 6 innovation campuses, with +400 partnerships academic innovation centers / dedicated laboratories: Digital factory for data expertise, Alizent for IoT, m-Lab for molecules, i-Lab for deciphering trends, 60% of which for energy transition…/ funds venture capital ALIAD, in alliance with the Chinese fund CSE and Accelair fund;
– Environmental strategy aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050 with 2 intermediate objectives, 2025 (start of absolute reduction in emissions) and 2035 (33% decline compared to 2015), through: CO2 capture, production of hydrogen by electrolysis and use of biomethane / €8 billion invested by 2035 in the hydrogen value chain / partnership with Rothschild & CO and Solar Impulse in a fund endowed with €200 million to support SMEs offering solutions for the environment and participation in the global decarbonized hydrogen financing fund (€1.2 billion in the short term invested, with Baker Hughes, Charg Industries, Plug Power, TotalEnergies and Vinci, for a leverage effect of €15 billion) ;
– Ability to pass on higher energy prices to customers;
– Industrial investment opportunities of €3.3 billion at the end of 2021, of which 40% in the energy transition.