PSA Group posted a 42 percent boost in first-quarter revenue, raised by its acquisition of Opel-Vauxhall.
Group revenue increased to 18.18 billion euros ($22.2 billion), the parent of Peugeot and Citroen cars stated on Tuesday, as automobile deliveries advanced 44 percent.
After a 2014 bailout, PSA has recovered to record profitability and is applying its turnaround lessons to Opel, acquired from General Motors in 2017. It is presently engaged in a standoff with Germany’s IG Metall concerning plans to suspend a pay rise negotiated by the union.
Performance plans throughout the group are on track to make this strong performance a strong basis for the future, Chief Financial Officer Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon stated.
The sales figures fell short of the 18.35 billion euros expected by experts, based on the median estimate in an Inquiry Financial poll for Thomson Reuters.
The Peugeot, Citroen and DS (PCD) business, which does not includes Opel-Vauxhall, published a 13.3 percent revenue gain to 10.21 billion euros on a 6.6 percent boost in deliveries. Inventory increased 12.3 percent year-on-year to 438,000 vehicles.
The legacy brands’ sales gain came despite negative currency effects, as the stronger euro crimped revenue by 2.8 percent. That was more than offset by a 4.5 percent gain from sales of costlier automobiles and trims on models such as the newly launched Peugeot 3008 and 5008 SUVs.
Opel-Vauxhall revenue came in at 4.84 billion euros, PSA stated, without providing a comparable year-earlier figure.
The group made small progress in reversing its sustained China sales collapse of these years, with first-quarter registrations increased 1.8 percent in the country.
It is going to take “some time” to change the “fundamentals of sales and marketing” and revive the China business to significant profit, CFO Chatillon informed on Tuesday.
The group also discussed its full-year global markets outlook and mid-term profitability targets.
