Alstom annual sales and profits rise despite pandemic

Sales were up two per cent to £7.19 billion for the group which has a train maintenance centre at Oxley, Wolverhampton.

Its earnings before tax grew four per cent to £552.8 million, but orders were down 18 per cent at £8.7bn

At year end in March it had an industry-leading backlog of £35.9bn of orders.

The sales figures were only impacted to a limited extent by the Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of the crisis on 2020-2021 is to be further assessed.

The board of directors at a meeting on Monday decided as an exceptional measure not to propose a dividend distribution at the next shareholders’ meeting on July 8.

Chairman and chief executive Henri Poupart-Lafarge said that in a stabilisation year, Alstom had enjoyed strong commercial momentum in a very dynamic railway market and had won major orders, especially in Europe and in Asia-Pacific. "

He said Alstom considered the health and safety of its employees and stakeholders as its top priority during the coronavirus crisis.

"We are confident for the resilience of Alstom’s business in the mid-term, given the fundamentals of the rail market and in particular, the need for greener mobility," he added.

The impact on Alstom's sales in 2019-20from the crisis is estimated to be around £87m, mostly on rolling stock due to the slow down of sales recognition during the containment period and to a lesser extent on services due to train traffic reduction.

Alstom has started to slowly reopen most of its sites from end of April onwards when the necessary safety conditions were met

Alstom has been awarded the seven-year contract to refurbish and maintain Pendolino trains for Avanti West Coast in the UK.