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By Bloomberg

Air Liquide SA, the world’s second-largest industrial gas company, reported a 7 percent increase in first- quarter sales, spurred by demand in China and developing economies and the euro’s drop against the dollar.

Revenue rose to 3.99 billion euros ($4.31 billion) from 3.73 billion euros a year earlier, the Paris-based company said today in a statement. The average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of three analysts was 3.97 billion euros. Sales of gas and services, excluding items such as currency and natural gas impacts, increased 2.6 percent on a comparable basis.

“Growth this quarter was driven by the dynamism of Healthcare and Electronics, and by developing economies, especially China where sales rose by nearly 20 percent on a comparable basis,” Chief Executive Officer Benoit Potier said in the statement. He reiterated that “assuming a comparable economic environment, Air Liquide is confident in its ability to deliver another year of net profit growth in 2015.”

Potier is pursuing acquisitions in medical gases and home health-care in Europe to benefit from an aging population and offset weaker growth prospects in manufacturing. He’s also adding plants in the U.S., China and the Middle-East as demand rises for industrial gases in fields such as chemicals, refining, and electronics, and tapping new markets such as filling stations for hydrogen-powered vehicles.

“In North America, the slowdown in the oil services industry, combined with temporary plant turnarounds of several customers, had a short-term impact on our Large Industries activities, while in Western Europe, the manufacturing sector continues to improve in several countries,” the CEO said. “Operational performance remains solid.”

So-called efficiency gains reached 62 million euros in the first quarter, and operational cash flow increased by 6.4 percent, excluding the currency impact, Air Liquide said.