Sales and orders up for Eiffage

French contractor Eiffage reported a 1.8% year-on-year increase in sales for the first quarter to €3 billion after seeing growth in France and outside Europe, but a steep decline in construction sales in Poland.

Revenues from concessions were up 3.9% in the first quarter to €505 million, while contracting sales increased 1.4% against the first three months of 2011 to €2.5 billion.

In the contracting division, Eiffage said first quarter construction sales grew 1.8% to €846 million, while public works grew 0.8% to €747 million, energy was up 1.7% at €762 million and sales in the metallic construction division remained stable year-on-year at €181 million.

Eiffage reported a 2.2% year-on-year jump in total revenues from France to €2.6 billion, where it said market conditions for construction were "extremely upbeat". And while sales in the rest of the world outside Europe also jumped 23.5% to €42 million, the contractor reported that total sales in the rest of Europe fell 2.8% to €298 million.

The company announced earlier this year that it would discontinue its construction activities in the Czech Republic, while a significant contraction in Poland, where construction revenues were down 36% year-on-year, also impacted the result. Construction revenues from the Benelux also saw a 5.6% decrease.

The order book stood at €14.1 billion on 1 April, 2012, representing an increase of 4.9% since the start of 2012 and 21% year-on-year.