国际英语新闻：Renault posts full-year loss, foresees difficult 2010 ahead

PARIS, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- France's second biggest carmaker Renault posted its 2009 business with a 10.8-percent revenue decrease on Thursday, and predicts a difficult 2010 ahead as the car trade-in policies applied by several governments will fade away.

Renault reported a full year revenue of 33.7 billion euros (46 billion U.S. dollars), down 10.8 percent year-on-year, but the group maintained a positive free cash flow at around 2.1 billion euros, fulfilling its prior objective in the 2009 downturn.

Like its peer Peugeot Citroen, which reported a contrasted year on Wednesday, Renault also posted much better performance in the second half of 2009 in the wake of massive loss in the first half, with a revenue increase of 25 percent in the last quarter.

According to Renault's annual report, most of its loss occurred in the first half of 2009. Among its operating loss of 955 million euros, a majority of 946 million euros was recorded in the first six months of 2009.

Garkos Ghosn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renault, said the group had "proved its resilience in 2009," but "the economic conditions will remain difficult in 2010 with a 10 percent fall in the European market."

To regain vigor in the post-crisis period, the company vowed to promote the business of zero-emission vehicles, extend entry-car range, strengthen "presence in emerging countries," and broaden cooperation with Japanese partner Nissan.