Alstom posts 27.6 billion euros in full-year orders as EBIT margin dips 

Alstom revises margin target for full-year 2026/27

Alstom's Financial Performance and Revised Targets

April 16 (Reuters) - Rail infrastructure group Alstom on Thursday revised its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margin target to 6.5% by the end of the 2026/27 year from a previous range of 8%–10%.

Preliminary Full-Year Results

In its preliminary full-year results, the company said its adjusted EBIT margin for the full-year stood at around 6%, down from last year and below the 7% target the French company had previously set.

Factors Affecting Profitability

• Profitability was hit mainly by "some large rolling‑stock projects (progressing) more slowly than anticipated" which weighed on near-term margins and cash, Alstom's CEO said in a press release

Withdrawal of Free Cash-Flow Target

• The French group also withdrew its three‑year free cash-flow target of 1.5 billion euros ($1.77 billion) by 2026/27.

Operational Changes and Performance Stabilisation

• The CEO said the company was launching "immediate actions to stabilise performance while preparing deeper operational changes to restore sustainable execution, cash generation and profitable growth"

Outlook and Guidance

Preliminary Full-Year Outlook

• Its preliminary full‑year outlook included a book‑to‑bill ratio above 1, organic sales growth of about 5%, an adjusted EBIT margin of 6.5%, and positive free cash-flow

Guidance for 2026/27

• The company provided guidance for around 1.5 billion of free cash-flow consumption in first half of the 2026/27 year

Order Intake and Backlog

• Full-year preliminary order intake was 27.6 billion euros, with an order backlog of over 100 billion euros

Free Cash-Flow and Sales

• Full-year preliminary free cash-flow was around 330 million euros

• Full-year preliminary sales were 19.2 billion euros

Additional Information

($1 = 0.8493 euros)

(Reporting by Jakob Van Calster. Editing by Jane Merriman)