PARIS — Renault’s board has voted to cancel the automaker’s dividend on 2019 earnings and top executives will take pay cuts as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and interim CEO Clothilde Delbos will reduce their compensation by 25 percent in the second quarter and possibly longer, the company said in a news release on Thursday.
Renault said the dividend is being cut “in the current context linked to the coronavirus pandemic around the world and in a spirit of responsibility towards all of the group’s stakeholders who are making efforts or are experiencing the effects of an unprecedented crisis.”
The automaker said its annual meeting, initially scheduled for April 24, would be held on June 19.
Other board members will reduce their attendance fees by 25 percent for the 2020 financial year. Renault said the pay savings would be transferred to a solidarity fund set up to ensure employees receive full pay during the coronavirus crisis.
Several automotive companies including Michelin and Ford have already decided to reduce or cancel dividends on 2019 earnings to preserve cash in the current crisis. Executives at Daimler, Fiat Chrysler and other companies have also reduced their compensation.
Renault, which is 15 percent state-owned, had earlier proposed to pay a 1.1 euro per share dividend, which had already been cut by two-thirds from the 3.55 euro per share payout on 2018 earnings. The French government, which is funding salaries for workers who are on unemployment during the crisis, has urged companies in which it holds a stake to cancel dividends.
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Reuters contributed to this report
