PARIS, May 6 (Reuters) - French defence and technology group Thales posted higher than expected first-quarter revenues and orders as it returned to growth in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

The French group said quarterly revenues rose 1.9% on a like-for-like basis to 3.917 billion euros ($4.70 billion), led by demand for military radars and cybersecurity and offsetting lower civil aerospace activity heavily impacted by the pandemic.

The intake of new orders jumped 31% to 3.416 billion euros on the back of French Rafale sales to Greece and France, for which Thales makes radars, and a Franco-Italian air defence system, as well as a broadband satellite for Indonesia.

Thales confirmed full-year forecasts that include sales of 17.1-17.9 billion euros and new orders outpacing revenues.

Thales declined to comment on the fate of its rail signalling business after Reuters last month reported the company was looking for buyers in a potential deal worth at least 1.5 billion euros, as Thales streamlines operations.

"We never comment on this type of rumour," Chief Financial Officer Pascal Bouchiat told reporters.

He noted that Thales is in the middle of a routine annual review of its strategy, but gave no further details.

Thales' results were published on the company's website.

($1 = 0.8333 euros) (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)