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TREXLERTOWN — Air Products on Thursday posted a higher quarterly profit amid continuing job cuts. In the previous nine months, the company has eliminated 500 jobs worldwide, including 232 since January, spokesman Art George said Thursday. The total includes 52 positions in the Lehigh Valley, he said, bringing the number of area jobs cut to 487, or about 14 percent of its local workforce, since 2014. The global cuts have amounted to about 2,700 employees out of a workforce of 19,000, about the same percentage as local job cuts. Meanwhile, the Trexlertown company reported net income of $346.8 million for its fiscal third quarter. That's up nearly 9 percent from the same three-month period a year ago, and significantly higher than its previous quarter, when it saw a $473 million loss. Sales decreased 1 percent, to $2.43 billion. Air Products operates on a fiscal calendar running November through October. On a per-share basis, Air Products posted diluted shares of $1.59, up 12 cents from the previous quarter. Adjusted for nonrecurring costs and accounting for discontinued operations, earnings were $1.92 per share, beating analysts' estimates by 1 cent. CEO Seifi Ghasemi said the company performed well last quarter despite "sluggish economic growth" worldwide and continued headwinds from currency fluctuations. Since Ghasemi became chairman and CEO of Air Products two years ago, he has driven it to become a leaner, more profitable corporation while boosting shareholder value. The leaner part has involved slashing jobs while also spinning off one of its performance materials segments and selling another. Despite these jarring changes, Ghasemi stressed last month during a speech to the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce that Air Products will remain based locally. "We're not going anywhere," he told about 200 people in responding to a question. Analyst Jake Dollarhide, who follows Air Products, said Ghasemi's top goal is maximizing shareholder value. "That's the CEO's fiduciary responsibility, not to keep jobs, not to be a corporate citizen, but to maximize shareholder value," he said. To that extent, Ghasemi has succeeded; the stock has climbed about 15 percent since January, while many of the corporate financial metrics, including cash on reserve, have increased. Click here to read the full article.