00:00Danny, just walk us through the top lines from these earnings. How much were tariffs an issue this time?
00:06Well, we haven't heard too much about tariffs this time, but indeed, this is the first set of results for Renault without CEO Luca Di Maio after a long period of time.
00:16But indeed, it is a set of results which he's still accountable for before he left for Gucci Parent Caring.
00:22And it's a set of results which it was a miss on various estimates, particularly the operating margin value that came in at 1.65 billion euro versus estimates for 1.81 billion euro.
00:35We also saw the net loss wider at 11.19 billion euro as well. And the all-important operating margin fell in the first half to 6 percent from 8 percent.
00:47And when you look closer at the guidance for the or the kind of signal for the second half, Renault is still a bit more confident about the second half outlook,
00:58particularly as it's still reaffirmed its operating guidance for the full year of 6.5 percent.
01:04So that has been left unchanged compared to when it cut that back unexpectedly around a couple of months ago.
01:11So that's the state of the company that Francois Provost, the new CEO, is going to inherit.
01:17I say new, Danny, but he's a company veteran. Why have they picked him in a turnaround? Why not pick some fresh blood like the Dacia boss?
01:27Yeah, I mean, Francois Provost, the transformation chief, confirming a blooming scoop that he was appointed on Wednesday evening and obviously replacing Luca Di Maio.
01:37But he is someone that Renault thinks as an insider, as a veteran of 24 years, can offer the stability that it needs at a time where it's still going through this transformation process.
01:49Someone who's worked across the company in various key businesses from Russia to China, parts of Europe, taking on many leadership roles as he's been elevated.
01:58He's also someone who's stayed very close to Luca Di Maio, indeed a protege.
02:01And so it is important that someone like Provost, who has helped ink a lot of partnerships that has helped elevate Renault over their recent past,
02:11that plus his French civil service experience and the connections he's made will also help him.
02:17And that's why he was picked as CEO, frankly.
02:19But the challenges, though, are going to be how he's going to navigate this Nissan partnership, which is kind of tearing itself at the seams.
02:28We've also got these executive departures, key talent leaving, which is also going to be a concern.
02:34And also how to revive parts of the business, such as the struggling EV and software business Ampere.
02:39So there's still a lot on the plate for new CEO, Francois Provost, and it remains to be seen what quite he will do,
02:45whether we're following the footsteps of Di Maio or try to find his own path.
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