France's largest auto maker halves loss to €426m in first half year

France's biggest automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen said Wednesday it halved its first half year loss to 426 million euros (about 564.82 million U.S. dollars). Despite a sluggish European market which contracted by 7 percent in the first half of this year, the carmaker managed to cut loss by 48 percent representing "the first signs of the group's recovery" thanks to measures aimed at restoring profitability: restructuring plan, cash management and commercial offensive, PSA said in a statement. For the January-June period, the French car manufacturer posted 3.8 percent less consolidated revenue to 27.71 billion euros, with receipts of the group's pillar activity of automotive division also falling by 7.5 percent to 18.7 billion euros, "primarily due to the decline in unit sales and the unfavorable geographic mix." Sales outside Europe rose to 41 percent of total volumes, with strong performance in China, Argentina and the Mediterranean basin. Taking into account the unfavorable business climate, PSA expected auto markets in Europe and Russia to decline by 5 percent each this year while its sales in China and Latin America to grow by 10 percent and by 2 percent respectively. . "The models recently launched exceeded their initial targets of sales and will continue to outperform in the second half. Globalization is underway, with an excellent performance especially in China. Lastly, our strategic Alliance with General Motors is delivering its first results. We have to pursue our efforts to consolidate the industrial and commercial rebound of the group," said Philippe Varin, chairman of the PSA Peugeot Citroen. (1 euro = 1.3259 U.S. dollars)