Alstom hikes 2025 revenue outlook after first-half sales beat

(Reuters) -French train maker Alstom on Thursday lifted its 2025 organic sales outlook after posting half-year revenue above expectations, driven by strong demand for its high-speed trains.

Alstom, which makes trains and signalling systems for urban and regional rail networks, now anticipates organic sales will rise above 5%, compared with its previous guidance of 3% to 5%.

"Strong sales growth across all product lines demonstrates our ability to accelerate backlog delivery and achieve full-year growth above our initial expectations." said chief executive Henri Poupart-Lafarge.

Revenue rose 8% on a organic basis to 9.06 billion euros ($10.57 billion) in the first half of the year. Analysts had expected 8.97 billion euros, according to a company compiled consensus.

The increase was notably driven by a "strong performance" in Europe, where group revenue rose 8.5% year-on-year in the first half of the year.

Alstom has signed several major contracts this quarter - including a 6.9 billion zloty ($1.9 billion) contract  with Poland's national long-distance rail operator PKP Intercity and a 1.4 billion euro Alstom high speed train order from French rail operator SNCF Voyageurs for its Eurostar routes.

The group confirmed the rest of its guidance for the year.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Alban Kacher; Editing by Matt Scuffham)