French group Alstom posts 6.0% rise in Q1 sales

The French industrial group Alstom unveiled on Thursday a six-percent increase in its first-quarter sales and a 20 percent jump in orders, sending its shares climbing in early trading. Alstom sales in the three months from April through June climbed to 4.78 billion euros ($5.87 billion), while orders gained 20 percent to 6.03 billion euros, a statement said. Meanwhile, "the current tendering remains active, still driven by prospects in emerging markets but also in Europe for transport" equipment, Alstom chairman and chief executive Patrick Kron was quoted as saying. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected sales to gain six percent but had forecast an increase in orders of just 14 percent. Alstom shares shot up by 3.63 percent to 26.84 euros in early trading on the Paris stock exchange, which was up by 0.40 percent overall. The group, which makes railway equipment and power generators, confirmed its full-year targets of five percent growth in sales for three years, and an increase in operating margin to eight percent by the 2014-2015 fiscal exercise.