Valeo : Car parts maker Valeo posts loss, cuts costs due to coronavirus hit

French car parts maker Valeo said on Tuesday it swung to a 1.2 billion euro (1 billion pounds) loss in the first half of 2020, after production was hit by the coronavirus crisis, and that it had cut some 10% of staff among measures to reduce costs.

The company recorded 622 million euros of one-off charges in the period and said it had brought in measures to contain its cash expenditure as it tries to recover from the pandemic. It has already cut 12,000 jobs and said it was slashing investments.

Valeo, posted a 28% slide in comparable revenues, said business had begun to pick up again in China and the United States, but added the recovery was slower elsewhere, including in Europe.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Writing by Sarah White; Editing by Mark Potter)