Valeo Q1 sales jump driven by powertrain systems arm

(Reuters) -French car parts maker Valeo SE on Tuesday reported first-quarter sales up 15% year on year, in line with expectations.

The result was driven by its two main units - powertrain and driving assistance (ADAS) businesses.

Valeo is betting on the acceleration of car electrification and the adoption of advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), as governments and companies shift towards a low-carbon economy while the car industry experiments with the idea of driverless cars.

Its Powertrain Systems unit, which produces electrical and transmission systems for cars, and generates about a third of revenues, added 33% in like-for-like sales during the first quarter.

In particular, sales in the high-voltage electric powertrain business surged by 69%. It has also recorded an order intake of around 4 billion euros ($4.39 billion) over the period.

"Optimizing our costs and negotiating compensation with our customers are our main priorities on the road to our 2023 objectives," said Valeo's Chief Executive Christophe Périllat.

The firm confirmed its 22-23 billion euros sales target for this year.

Earnings in the three months to March 31 were 5.48 billion euros, against the average forecast of 5.46 billion euros from 14 analysts polled by the company.

($1 = 0.9117 euro)

(Reporting by Andrey Sychev and Augustin Turpin; Editing by David Goodman and Jonathan Oatis)