PSA Group’s quarterly income increased by nearly a third, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars stated on Wednesday, as it added Opel-Vauxhall sales estimates for the first time.
The company’s performance was likewise helped by sales growth in Europe and Latin America in the 3 months ended September 30, however the automaker lost more ground in China, where deliveries plunged another 29 percent year-on-year.
Group income advanced 31 percent to 15 billion euros ($17.6 billion), while integrated automotive revenue at the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands increased 11.6 percent to 8.42 billion.
Under Chief Executive Carlos Tavares PSA has powered to record profitability however stumbled in China, the world’s biggest automobile market, where deliveries topped 700,000 cars in 2014. Its sales in the region – primarily through 2 joint ventures – stood at 242,000 vehicle in the first nine months of the year.
PSA is trying to sell or lease out its Wuhan 2 factory, among the group’s five Chinese assembly plants, French daily Les Echos reported on Wednesday, pointing out unnamed sources.
Asked about the report, Chief Financial Officer Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon stated PSA was identified “to deal with reality and to adjust costs when needed, and right-size (those) expenses”.
PSA will “get back on a growth path” in China and is ruling out withdrawal from the market, Chatillon informed analysts.
Sales at PSA’s China ventures are not combined in its group earnings, which took advantage of a healthy 3.9 percent boost in European automobile deliveries – excluding Opel-Vauxhall – as Latin American sales volumes jumped 17 percent.
PSA raised its 2017 market development outlook to 7 percent in Latin America and 8 percent in Russia, from a earlier 5 percent projection for both markets, echoing a comparable upgrade by Renault this week.
