Air Products and Chemicals (APD) 16th Annual Global Industrials, Materials & Building Products Conference summary

Leadership transition and strategic focus

• New CEO with extensive industry experience aims to return the business to fundamentals and focus on core strengths.

• Emphasis on incremental market competition, with small margins determining wins and losses.

• Four main priorities: productivity, headcount adjustment, product competitiveness, and project completion/commercialization.

• Simultaneous execution of these priorities is seen as essential for near-term success.

Major project updates and capital allocation

• NEOM JV project is 80% complete, with a long-term commitment to commercialize all output; medium- and long-term economics are considered attractive.

• Louisiana Clean Energy Complex is progressing, with $1.5B spent and a goal to secure partners by year-end; project economics are supported by 45Q tax credits.

• Maximum planned spend on Louisiana project is $5–6B if partners are found.

• Recent $3B write-off for three projects was due to poor future returns and contractual flexibility.

• Canadian blue hydrogen project costs doubled due to optimistic estimates and execution flaws; now under tighter control.

Financial discipline and productivity

• Commitment to be free cash flow positive by 2026, shifting from years of overspending.

• Largest project, Darrow, is key to achieving cash neutrality between 2026–2028.

• Headcount to be reduced to near-2018 levels, with $200M in P&L savings and $40M in capitalized cost reductions so far.

• Further cost cuts will increasingly impact capitalized costs.

• Productivity improvements focus on replicating best practices globally and leveraging existing innovative culture.