Linde India: ₹6,575 and 126x P/E – Oxygen for Hospitals, Suffocation for Valuations

At a Glance

Linde India is the monopoly oxygen supplier that’s somehow gasping for growth. Its stock trades at a Himalayan P/E of 126 while revenue shrank 10% in the latest year. A SEBI probe is simmering, projects are piling, and yet investors cling to it like a ventilator tube during a pandemic. Is this industrial gas giant a breath of fresh air or a bubble about to burst?

Introduction

Linde India, the gas kingpin under BOC UK, controls India’s industrial and medical oxygen market. It builds cryogenic plants, supplies gases to steel and pharma industries, and has an engineering arm that constructs air separation units. The problem? Investors pay tech-startup valuations for a slow-growth commodity business. It’s like paying Tesla prices for a Maruti Omni—reliable but not moon-bound.

Business Model (WTF Do They Even Do?)

Three revenue streams:

1. Industrial & Medical Gases: Pipeline gas to steel/glass, bulk gases to factories, cylinders for SMEs.
2. Healthcare Gases: Medical oxygen, nitrous oxide, synthetic air – critical for hospitals.
3. Project Engineering: Designs, installs, commissions air separation plants.

Their business is steady, contractual, and crucial. But growth depends on capex cycles of customers, not on Linde’s willpower.

Financials Overview

Commentary: OPM rose to 31%, which is chef’s kiss. But revenue declined and net profit barely moved. Investors still pay a nosebleed P/E for mid-single-digit