PARIS (Reuters) -Renault reported a first-half net loss attributable to the group of 11.19 billion euros ($12.78 billion) on Thursday, including a one-off 9.3 billion euros from writing down its investment in partner Nissan flagged earlier this month.
Revenues at the French car maker came in at 27.6 billion euros, up 2.5% compared with a year earlier, helped by several new product launches, though its operating margin fell 2.1 percentage points to 6%.
Renault lowered its annual forecast earlier this month after market conditions deteriorated, particularly in the commercial vehicle market.
The group, whose sales volume growth slowed to 1.3% in the first half, now expects an operating margin of around 6.5% in 2025, compared with at least 7% previously targeted, and free cash flow of between 1.0 billion and 1.5 billion euros, compared with at least 2 billion previously anticipated.
“Our first-half results, in a challenging market, were not aligned with our initial ambitions,” said Francois Provost, appointed new CEO of the group late on Wednesday.
“Nevertheless, Renault Group’s profitability remains a reference in our industry, and we are determined to maintain this standard,” he added in a statement.
Excluding the impact related to Nissan, its net income attributable to the group reached 461 million euros.
($1 = 0.8754 euros)
(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume and Dominique Patton; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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