Alstom's orders doubled year on year to €8.2bn in the quarter. The jump was largely because of a contract with the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) worth R51bn, as well as orders in the firm's renewable power and grid divisions.
Earlier this year, Prasa finalised a R51bn contract with the Gibela empowerment consortium - of which Alstom Southern African Holdings is the largest shareholder - to deliver 600 Alstom trains comprising six wagons each. The first 20 trains are being made at Alstom's Lapa plant in Brazil, with delivery scheduled from late next year.
The remaining 580 will be produced at a purpose-built manufacturing plant near Nigel, in Gauteng, from 2017.
The contract was part of Prasa's multibillion-rand fleet modernisation programme, and also includes an 18-year maintenance contract.
For Alstom, whose market capitalisation in Paris is about R120bn, this boosted its transport division's order intake to a record level of €4.8bn (R68bn). Alstom's transport business also won contracts for a signalling system in Spain, light-rail vehicles in France and tramways in Algeria.
Meanwhile, Alstom and General Electric (GE) - two multinationals with a strong presence in SA - are negotiating a deal that will result in GE buying most of Alstom's power business.
Alstom has played a major role in SA's power sector, and is supplying equipment and systems to the Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power stations.
Alstom also has a long history at the Koeberg nuclear power station. The Department of Energy said this week it intends introducing 9.6GW of nuclear energy in the next decade, in addition to the Koeberg supply.
However, Alstom agreed last month on a €12.35bn deal that will see GE buy the bulk of its power business, allowing Alstom to focus on its more buoyant rail operations. Alstom's Chief Executive Patrick Kron said the firm expected to call for a shareholders' meeting before the end of 2014 for a decision on the deal.
Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
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