BIETIGHEIM-BISSINGEN (dpa-AFX) - Mechanical engineering company Dürr earned less in the first quarter, partly due to a higher share of sales from less profitable businesses and increased costs. Sales, on the other hand, increased more strongly than experts had expected. In addition, incoming orders surprisingly continued to rise. In the first three months of the current year, the volume of orders increased by around five percent to a record level of almost 1.5 billion euros. Analysts had expected a slight decline. Sales rose by twelve percent to just over one billion euros, the MDax-listed company announced in Bietigheim-Bissingen on Tuesday. Here, too, Dürr exceeded experts' forecasts. On balance, net income fell by 22 percent to 21 million euros. The Group also confirmed its forecast for the current year./zb/stk