PARIS: Alstom SA’s full-year profit surged after the French rail-equipment maker got a boost from an Indian order for electric locomotives that pushed its pipeline of contracts to a record. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes increased 23 percent to 366 million euros (US$417 million) in the fiscal year through March, Alstom said yesterday in a statement.
Sales on a comparable basis climbed 7 percent to 6.88 billion euros, beating a reiterated target for annual growth of 5 percent through 2020 and analysts’ estimate of 6.71 billion euros compiled by Bloomberg. “Our first priority is the implementation of our organic strategy; our second priority is to continue to make small and medium acquisitions to accelerate this strategy,” CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge told reporters during a conference call.
