Dacia drives Renault profit up 59%

Dacia drives Renault profit up 59 percent

Newsroom 13/02/2014 | 13:23

Renault, third largest auto producer in Europe, registered an operational profit of EUR 1.24 billion in 2013, up 59% on the year, generated by higher sales volumes and cost cutting, writes MEDIAFAX.

Earnings before interest, taxes and one-time items increased to 1.24 billion euros, beating the 1.06 billion-euro average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Revenue rose 0.5 percent to 40.9 billion euros. The company today forecast growth in sales and operating profit in 2014 and positive free cash flow at the carmaking unit.

The company’s global sales, including the Dacia and Samsung brands, rose 3.1 percent last year to 2.63 million cars and light commercial vehicles.

Nissan contributed 1.5 billion euros to earnings last year, Renault said today. Currency effects cut operating profit by 619 million euros, Chief Financial Officer Dominique Thormann said on the conference call.

Dacia delivered nearly 430.000 automobiles last year, an increase of 19.3% compared to the 360.000 deliveries made in 2012.

The Group’s total tally for sales in 2013 was 2.63 million cars and light commercial vehicles, up 3.1 % from a year before (including the Dacia and Samsung brands).