The company said its second-quarter sales rose 9% from a year earlier to 2.54 billion euros (£2.29 billion), with pretax profit rising 7% to 310 million.

Analysts expected on average the company to report sales of 2.45 billion euros and pretax profit of 327 million in a Refinitiv poll.

"In the second quarter, we had a good performance on many fronts. I’m especially pleased that our orders received continued to grow at a very good rate and that the margin of orders is now improving," Chief Executive Henrik Ehrnrooth said in a statement.

Kone said it won orders worth 2.31 billion euros in the quarter, 9% more than a year earlier.

Shares in Kone were up 1.5 percent at 52.04 euros.

Kone forecast its 2019 sales would grow 4-7% at comparable exchange rates, with 2019 adjusted EBIT in a range of 1.17-1.25 billion euros.

It had in April forecast sales growth of 3–7%, with adjusted EBIT of 1.16-1.26 billion euros.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki, Editing by Jane Merriman)