French train manufacturer Alstom reported an 8% rise in quarterly sales on Wednesday, driven by orders exceeding expectations, particularly in Europe.

Coronavirus-related supply chain problems, the war in Ukraine and the acquisition of Bombardier's rail business have all pushed up Alstom's costs, but higher orders and improved train ridership have nonetheless boosted sales.

"I don't see any signs (...) of our demand slowing down globally," CFO Laurent Martinez told analysts on a conference call, adding that "demand is back to pre-COVID levels".

Sales for the October-December period, its third fiscal quarter, totaled 4.22 billion euros, compared with 3.92 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Third-quarter orders rose by +13% to 5.15 billion euros, and exceeded the Zone Finance consensus quoted by J.P Morgan by 11%.

The orders "underline the high level of activity in the rail sector, which is already visible in companies' major order announcements", says J.P. Morgan's Akash Gupta in a note, adding that the broker expects good quarterly orders for Stadler, Alstom's counterpart.

Alstom shares were up 0.8% at 09:37 GMT on the Paris Bourse.

Alstom confirmed its targets for the full year and for 2024/25.

"The confirmation of guidance, in line with expectations, should be considered reassuring," said Citi in a note.

(Reported by Olivier Sorgho, edited by Kate Entringer)