Nuclear company Areva posts improved quarterly sales

French nuclear energy giant Areva on Thursday said sales rose by 2.4 percent in the first quarter this year to 2.026 billion euros ($2.64 billion) bolstered by growth in its mining business.

The company said sales were resilient despite the Fukushima disaster in Japan last year that hit the nuclear industry hard.

Areva said mining activity grew by 11.9 percent in the January-March period and that sales in its reactor and services division grew by 5.8 percent.

Renewable energy sales, including wind and solar power operations, tripled to 85 million euros from 29 million euros a year ago, the company said.

This helped Areva offset a 17.2 percent sales slump in its front end business which includes uranium enrichment.

Areva said its orderbook on March 31 was 3.7 percent higher year-on-year at 45.1 billion euros but 1.0 percent lower than in late December.

Contract cancellations due to the disaster in Japan had reached 612 million euros by the end of March, up from 464 million euros in December.