Sales in the first nine months of the year were up 6.4 percent at 9.7 billion euros compared with the same period of 2008.

Third quarter activity was boosted by an increase in the price of uranium.

Sales at the company's Transmission and Distribution division, which provides systems and services for the transmission of electricity, rose 12.4 percent in the first nine months of the year thanks in part to good performances in the Middle East and North America.

The group said in a statement it expected "strong growth in (its orders) backlog and ... revenue and operating income close to that of financial year 2008."

Areva has been criticised in recent months for delays in the construction of an EPR nuclear reactor at Olkiluoto in Finland.

The plant was originally scheduled to start operating this year but the project has fallen more than three years behind its original schedule, prompting a bitter fight between the Areva-Siemens consortium building the facility and the Finnish power group TVO.

In a financial report for January-September published on Monday, TVO said it had demanded that Areva and Siemens pay compensation of around 1.4 billion euros (2.1 billion dollars) for the delays.

Areva and Siemens for their part have asked for around one billion euros from TVO, arguing that the project had encountered "more rigorous security requirements" than initially foreseen.

Areva in its statement Thursday insisted that "maintaining the planned schedule implies full cooperation of the parties. Otherwise it could not be held responsible for potential delays."

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