Peugeot officially back in the black
After almost hitting the wall two years ago, PSA Peugeot Citroen has returned to profitability.
|||Paris - PSA Peugeot Citroen says it moved back into the black in 2015 with a net profit of 1.2 billion euros (R20.2bn) after a successful restructuring and on higher demand, two years after it almost went to the wall.
Europe's second biggest carmaker revealed a 5.7 percent rise in sales as it said it would unveil its new “strategic sustainable growth plan” on April 5. The results are a turnaround for a group which posted a 555 million euros loss in 2014. Last month PSA said its global sales advanced by 1.2 percent in 2015 compared with 2014 despite a small retreat in China and Southeast Asia.
Buoyant European demand led the way although 2014 saw China become the group's biggest car market, outstripping France.
On Wednesday, PSA said it had exceeded several targets, its operating margin notably hitting five percent, exceeding a projected two which had been projected for 2018.
Also exceeded was free cash flow of 3.8 billion euros last year, beating a target of 2.0 billion euros for 2015-2017.
PSA is the number one French carmaker with 2.97 million units produced last year as the group came out of the 2008-2013 crisis in the European car industry which led the group in 2014 to require a bailout from the French state and China's Dongfeng Motor Corp, who both took a 14 percent stake.
BACK IN THE RACE
A restructuring plan dubbed “Back in the race” was designed to return the carmaker to the forefront of the industry in Europe and indeed the company said last month it would return to Iran in a partnership deal with a local manufacturer worth 400 million euros with first units produced from 2017.
Financial director Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon indicated in noting the group had surpassed a range of targets that “we are largely ahead on our initial market plan” although he conceded that operating margin had been achieved at least in part due to “favourable winds,” not least on raw material prices.
Without such factors the margin would have been nearer 3.3 percent, he added, indicating that Peugeot “will continue to improve productivity significantly in 2016.”
The company added it would be paying out an average 2000 euro (R33 600) bonus to French-based employees as a reward for the strong results.
AFP