LONDON (Dow Jones) - Shares of German industrial conglomerate Siemens gained ground on Thursday as orders climbed 31%, offsetting potential disappointment from a 19% income slide.

Siemens' (SI) sales from continuing operations rose 22% to 20.72 billion euros, while first-quarter orders climbed a consensus-beating 31% to 26.79 billion euros after unusually robust orders in the period.

Operating profit eased to 1.402 billion euros, from 1.565 billion euros a year earlier, ahead of consensus expectations, while net profit declined 19% to 813 million euros , or 0.87 euros a share, below consensus estimates of 850 million euros .

The profit decline came after the company took 351 million euros in severance charges in Siemens Business Services and in its communications division, offsetting a gain of 356 million euro from the sale of shares in Juniper Networks.

Siemens shares rose 4% in Frankfurt after the results.

"Siemens reported good underlying first-quarter results with the main highlight being the very strong order intake....while underlying operating profit was 6% ahead of our estimates," said analysts at J. P. Morgan.

The company's order levels far exceeded consensus estimates of 22 billion euros and also topped the 23.3 billion euros in orders that analysts at SG Securities were expecting. Intake was particularly strong in the star sectors of power generation and automation.

On a regional basis, Siemens said order growth was strongest in the Asia- Pacific region. In China, orders and sales rose 73% and 59% respectively, while orders in India more than tripled on the year.

All other divisions increased their earnings year-over-year except for power generation, which sustained an adverse settlement in arbitration, Siemens said.

It added that power generation nevertheless remained among the leading sectors in terms of earnings, alongside automation and drives, medical solutions, Siemens VDO automotive and its lighting division, Osram.

"With 2006 off to a good start, all our measures... are directed towards our 2007 targets," said CEO Klaus Kleinfeld .

"Our valuation and consensus figures are likely to be revised upwards. This release should also be favorable for peers like ABB (ABB) and Alstom," said the SG Securities analysts.

ABB shares were up 1.5% in Switzerland, while Alstom shares were flat in Paris . (END) Dow Jones Newswires 01-26-06 0618ET Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.