French cable maker Nexans (NEXS.PA) on Wednesday posted strong first-quarter sales as demand recovered in its main businesses, and it kept its full year goals intact amid rising commodity costs. The company, which lost the bid battle earlier this year for Dutch cable maker Draka to Italian rival Prysmian, also said it was still looking for acquisitions in the energy sector. Nexans said it benefited from a pickup in activity in industry cables and in the building sector and from a favourable comparison last year. First-quarter sales reached 1.754 billion euros ($2.57 billion). At constant non-ferrous metal prices, sales reached 1.129 billion, which corresponds to underlying growth of 13 percent at constant exchange rates and scope, Nexans said in a statement.
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