Arrivata anche la trimestrale Q4/2008 di Renault... la società ha visto un calo delle vendite del 7% nel 2008, dell'utile netto del 78%, con un EBITDA crollato a poco più di 200 mln euro ed ha tagliato la produzione del 45% nell'ultimo trimestre dell'anno.
Il debito netto si è attestato a fine anno a circa 8 mld euro.
Cancellato il dividendo per il 2008, la società ha rinunciato a dare un forecast per l'anno corrente, che secondo il CEO Ghosn (come riportato in altri articoli) potrebbe chiudersi con un calo del mercato automobilistico mondiale superiore al 30%.
La società si dice impegnata a restare free cash flow positive quest'anno, ad ottenere ulteriori rispermi di costi tramite sinergie con Nissan per 250 mln euro ed a ridurre le giacenze di magazzino per 800 mln - 1 mld euro per il 2009. Sono preste anche riduzioni del personale, da ottenersi tramite incentivazione, per circa 9.000 unità sulle 120.000 impiegate, la metà delle quali in Francia
Renault drops targets as net plunges, worse ahead
Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:56am EST
By Helen Massy-Beresford and Matthias Blamont
PARIS (Reuters) - French carmaker Renault scrapped its once sacrosanct 2009 profit targets, dropped its dividend and slashed output, as it warned that the economic crisis would change the landscape of the global auto industry.
The group posted a 78 percent drop in 2008 net profit and a 7 percent decline in sales on Thursday due to what it described as a "financial and economic crisis of massive proportions" and said it expected the market to get worse this year.
It scrapped its dividend payment for 2008 but Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told a news conference it would return to paying a dividend as soon as possible. Ghosn also said Renault had cut production by 45 percent in the fourth quarter.
Disappointing results from France's largest carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen (
PEUP.PA) on Wednesday "helped set the table with low expectations for Renault, which it met," said Morgan Stanley analysts in a research note.
"Renault's second half results provide no reason to buy the stock today, but in this market, we would not be surprised to see some relief."
Renault shares traded 5.9 percent higher at 1048 GMT, as the market welcomed the drastic cut in output. Despite Thursday's rally, Renault stock is still down 7.5 percent so far in 2009, falling behind the DJ Stoxx auto index .SXAP, which is down 2.9 percent year-to-date.
New chief operating officer Patrick Pelata said the company was ready to face the crisis and was focused on generating a positive free cash flow.
He told journalists the firm was considering selling real estate and rationalizing factories in the Paris region and was seeking 250 million euros ($323 million) in additional cost savings through its alliance with 44-percent owned Nissan Motor Co Ltd (
7201.T) of Japan.
Ghosn, who is chief executive of both Renault and Nissan and chairs the ACEA European auto industry body that has asked for more state support for the sector, said the crisis was "deep" and "would change the landscape of the industry."
Overall January European new car sales due to be published on Friday are expected to show a further fall, after a 17.8 percent drop in December.
Echoing comments by Fiat (
FIA.MI) Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, whose company is in link-up talks with Chrysler CBS.UL, Ghosn said there would be fewer car companies around after the crisis.
TARGETS UNACHIEVABLE
Renault said its volume and operating margin targets for 2009 were now "unachievable" and it would focus on cutting inventories by a further 800 million-1 billion euros ($1.29 billion) in 2009.
Renault, which in conjunction with Nissan was ranked 5th in the world in terms of production in 2007, and its competitors are battling a global car sales crisis as the credit crunch and worsening economic outlook slashes consumer spending.
Net profit fell to 599 million euros from 2.73 billion in 2007. Earnings before interest and tax fell to 212 million, missing the average forecast of 794.43 million euros in a Reuters Estimates poll of analysts.
It beat a target of cutting stocks of unsold vehicles to year-end 2007 levels by December 2008, ending the year with 5.3 billion euros of inventories, it said, after cutting production twice as fast as sales fell in the fourth quarter.
Net debt at the group's automobile division stood at 7.94 billion euros at year-end, representing 40.9 percent of shareholders' equity, compared with 9.5 percent a year earlier, the company said.
Group sales fell 7 percent on a like-for-like basis to 37.79 billion euros, compared with a Reuters Estimates poll figure of 38.858 billion euros.
The group said it would step up its policy of cutting fixed costs in 2009 and would seek to "strengthen operational synergies" with Nissan by converging the engine range and working together on electric vehicles.
Nissan warned on Monday it would make its first annual loss since Ghosn took the reins a decade ago.
On Monday French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a 6 billion euro loan for France's two carmakers in return for a controversial pledge to safeguard French jobs.
Ghosn said he expected a reduction in group headcount of around 9,000 in 2009, to 120,000, through voluntary departures, around half of which would be in France.
(Editing by Marcel Michelson and Erica Billingham).
