The company said its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to 427 million euros ($470 million) in the January-March period, topping a company-provided analyst consensus of 358 million euros.

"All the businesses and geographical areas performed well, particularly the sectors that play a strategic role in the energy transition and electrification processes," CEO Valerio Battista said in a statement.

In particular he cited submarine cable systems for large interconnections and offshore wind farms, cables for protective grid hardening and applications for wind and solar renewable energy generation.

The company said it generated a free cash flow of 581 million euros in the 12 months to the end of March, even if it came in negative in the first quarter, broadly in line with the same period last year.

Despite strong quarterly results, Prysmian confirmed its adjusted EBITDA and cash generation forecasts for the full year it provided in March.

After initially rising following the earnings release, Milan-listed shares in the company turned negative and were down 0.6% by 1300 GMT. ($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Gavin Jones and Keith Weir)