PARIS (Reuters) - Alstom (PA:ALSO), the ailing French industrial engineering group facing a politically charged takeover battle for its power business, scrapped its dividend on Wednesday as it said it burned cash and had a 10 percent drop in orders in its full year.
Alstom, which makes electrical power generation and transmission systems as well as trains and trams, reported stable sales of 20.3 billion euros (16.65 billion pounds) for the year ended March 31, while income from operations fell 3 percent to 1.42 billion.
Analysts polled by Reuters had on average expected sales of 20 billion euros and income from operations of 1.2 billion.
Free cash flow turned positive in the second half but the group posted an outflow of 171 million euros for the fiscal full year.
Alstom did not provide any outlook or update on offers from rivals General Electric (N:GE) and Siemens (DE:SIEGn) for its power and grid business in its earnings statement.
(Reporting by Natalie Huet; Editing by James Regan)