The increase in sales has been attributed to the execution of metro and tramway contracts in Latin America, as well as the 'ramp-up' of Prasa contracts in South Africa.

Meanwhile, orders received were down 39%, compared with the same period last year, to €3.9bn. Net income from continued operations saw an €11m decrease compared with the same period last year – down to €18m – which Alstom partly attributes to the sale of its energy divisions to General Electric (GE).

Alstom recently announced that the deal will strengthen its position in the market, as it will use €700m of the proceeds to acquire GE's signalling activities. Once the GE deal has been completed, current chairman and CEO of Alsom, Mr Patrick Kron, will be succeeded by Mr Henri Poupart-Lafarge, current group senior vice-president and president of Alstom Transport.

For further information, click here.