French Carmaker Renault's Shares Fall 12 Percent

French carmaker Renault saw its shares tumble 12 percent on the Paris Stock Exchange Friday in a continuation of its woes following ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn's arrest on financial misconduct charges last year

Paris, France, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Oct, 2019 ) :French carmaker Renault saw its shares tumble 12 percent on the Paris Stock Exchange Friday in a continuation of its woes following ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn's arrest on financial misconduct charges last year.

By 10.10 am (0810 GMT) the company's shares were worth 48.27 Euros ($53.7), a drop of 12.01 percent on a market down 0.27 percent.

On Thursday, Renault said revenue for the year would be three to four percent lower than 2018, blaming conditions that were "less favourable than anticipated".

For the third quarter, it said, revenue declined 1.6 percent to 11.3 billion euros.

In July, Renault said profits for the first half of the year had been halved to 970 million euros from 1.952 billion euros in the same period in 2018.

Earnings were "heavily penalised by the decline of Nissan's contribution", the French group said at the time.

Alliance partners Renault and Nissan were plunged into turmoil after chief executive Ghosn's arrest last November, prompting investigations of governance failings and deep revamps of their management structures.

Ghosn is alleged to have under-reported millions of Dollars in salary as head of Nissan and to have used company funds for personal expenses.

He has denied any wrongdoing, but both companies ousted him while he awaits trial in Japan.

Renault owns a 43-percent stake in the embattled Japanese group which announced 12,500 job cuts and a dramatic drop in quarterly profits as it struggles with weak sales in the wake of Ghosn's arrest.

Last week, Renault ousted chief executive Thierry Bollore, who had taken over from Ghosn, just days after Nissan named a new CEO after the resignation of his predecessor.

Financial group ODDO BHF said Friday's announcement was "disconcerting for its timing and its magnitude," while Societe Generale analysts said: "Renault runs aground on the rocks."