Alstom improves its commercial and financial
performance

Between 1st April 2008 and 30th September
2008, Alstom set a new record with order intake exceeding
15 billion, up by 20%. Over the same period, sales
(9 billion) and income from operations (697
million) continued to grow, up respectively by 12% and 22%. The
operating margin reached 7.8% as compared to 7.2% last year. The
net result amounted to 527 million (+36%) and the very
high free cash flow generation of 1.2 billion allowed the
Company to reinforce its net cash situation at the end of
September 2008.

The first half results 2008/09
illustrate once again the success of our profitable growth
strategy. The new record of order intake led to a very high
backlog at 30 September representing 2.5 years of sales and
giving us strong visibility on future growth. This will allow us
to face any changes in our environment resulting from the recent
financial downturn. We will continue to strictly monitor our
project execution and notably our supply chain, as well as our
costs to further improve our profitability. Our financial
situation has been further strengthened by the strong free cash
flow generation during the first semester. In this context, we
are confident to be able to pursue our strategy combining growth
and performance improvement. We confirm our operating margin
estimate for March 2010 at around 9%., said Patrick Kron,
Alstoms Chairman & Chief Executive Officer.

For more information, click on downloadable
pdf version of the release on the right column.

• file_53345_237272.pdf