(Reuters) -Alstom (EPA:ALSO), a French train company, said on Tuesday that its first-quarter sales went up by 8%. Most of its new contracts came from Europe, where the company also made most of its sales.
Alstom makes trains and signalling systems for urban and regional rail networks. In the three months ending June 30, the company made 4 billion euros ($4.06 billion) in sales, compared to 3.70 billion at the same time last year.
About 60% of sales, or 2.41 billion euros, came from Europe.
Alstom got orders worth 5.60 billion euros in the third quarter, which is 13% less than at the same time last year. Europe accounted for 70% of those, including a contract for 130 electric trains announced in May in Germany.
At the end of the period, the French group had a backlog of orders worth 83.4 billion euros.
Alstom confirmed its financial goals for the current fiscal year, which include sales growth and free cash flow generation. However, the company warned that inflation and a lack of electronic components could still cause problems.
This year, the company’s stock has lost a fifth of its value because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the sharp rise in costs that followed. The new COVID-19 lockdowns in China have also hurt supply chains.
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