“Historically, large currency devaluations have often been followed by periods of more significant local inflation, with 2022 being a recent example. If that occurs, I'd anticipate incremental pricing opportunities to recover the currency devaluation impact.”

In context

“fter year requires a disciplined capital allocation policy and a very healthy balance sheet. Two things that are much easier said than done. I'll wrap up with guidance on Slide 7. We're initiating full year EPS guidance of $16.15 to $16.55, representing 4% to 7% growth or 8% to 11% when excluding an estimated 4% currency headwind. As mentioned earlier, the 4% impact is from the accounting translation of foreign earnings, which experienced a rapid strengthening of the U.S. dollar towards the end of 2024. Recall this is merely a projection as we're required to book the actual months average rate to the income statement. The methodology used for this estimate is consistent with prior practice by using the forward curves on a weighted basis for each foreign currency at the start of the month. Historically, large currency devaluations have often been followed by periods of more significant local inflation, with 2022 being a recent example. If that occurs, I'd anticipate incremental pricing opportunities to recover the currency devaluation impact. These potential pricing opportunities are not baked into the guidance range at this time since the amount or timing of subsequent inflation is difficult to estimate. The midpoint of this range assumes no economic improvement from the current environment and thus assumes flat base volumes. As Sanjiv mentioned, our base volumes derived from customer supply contracts. Their growth is a function of gas consumption from our contracted tanks and cylinders. Hence, why local industrial production tends to be the best proxy. First quarter EPS guidance range is $3.85 to $3.95, with similar assumptions to the full year. At this time, we believe it's appropriate to remain prudent with a more cautious economic outlook. If things turn out better, so too will our results. And if they worsen, we'll take”