Renault to take 3.6 billion euro hit from Nissan losses

PARIS (Reuters) - French carmaker Renault <RENA.PA> said on Thursday that losses at its Japanese partner Nissan <4021.T>, in which it has a 43% stake, would drag on its on net earnings by 3.6 billion euro (3.23 billion pounds) in the first quarter.

Renault, which posted its first net loss in a decade in 2019, has like Nissan been struggling with faltering sales, a slide exacerbated this year by the coronavirus pandemic.

The two firms, which this week announced plans for more production sharing under their three-way alliance with Japan's Mitsubishi Motors <7211.T> in a bid to cut costs, are also embarking on individual restructuring and savings plans.

Nissan posted an annual operating loss of 40.5 billion yen ($376 million) for the year to March 31, its worst performance since 2008/09, while net losses came in at 671.2 billion yen.

Renault is due to announce details of its turnaround plan on Friday.

(Reporting by Sarah White; editing by Jason Neely)