Renault In Red As Sales Slip In First Year Without Long-standing Boss, Ghosn

French carmaker, Renault, on Friday, posted a loss of 141 million euros (or 153 million dollars) for 2019, its first full year without longstanding boss Carlos Ghosn.

The carmaker’s net income group share fell from 3.3 billion euros in 2018, hit by a big fall in contributions from Japanese partner firm Nissan and joint ventures in China.

Nissan, which was also headed by Ghosn until his arrest in Tokyo on financial misconduct charges in late 2018, posted a net loss of 26.1 billion yen (or 237 million dollars) for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Renault’s operating profit was also down in 2019, at 2.11 billion euros compared to 2.99 billion euros in 2018.

Among the factors was a decline of 3.4 per cent in unit sales, down to 3.8 million units in 2019.

READ ALSO: Ghosn: Former Nissan Chief Arrested in Japan on New Claims

Group revenue fell 3.3 per cent to 55.5 billion euros.

The company said it would propose paying a dividend of 1.10 euros, down from 3.55 in 2019.

Renault has had a turbulent 16 months since the arrest of Ghosn, who has since fled bail in Japan to his ancestral homeland of Lebanon.

However, the affair raised questions over the future of its alliance with Nissan, in which it has a 43 per cent stake, and Japan’s Mitsubishi.

In October, Chief Executive Thierry Bollore, was shown the door, but his replacement, former Volkswagen Chief Executive, Luca Meo, will not assume duty until July.

dpa/NAN