The shares to be sold are part of the 22.73% of Nissan’s capital held by a French trust (as a reminder, 28.4% were initially transferred by Renault Group into this trust on November 8, 2023 pursuant to the New Alliance Agreement between Renault Group and Nissan).
Assuming a maximum number of 195,473,600 Nissan shares sold at a share price of ¥408.5 (closing price of Nissan share on September 26, 2024 restated from ¥5[1]), this sale would result, at the transaction date, in a cash inflow of up to €494 million, which would further improve the Automotive net cash financial position of Renault Group.
As a consequence of the sale of 195,473,600 Nissan shares, the accounting impacts would be the following:
- On Renault Group consolidated financial statements: a capital loss on disposal estimated at a maximum of €1,100 million, which would impact the net income (this capital loss, booked in “other operating income and expenses”, would not impact the Group’s operating income). The impact of this capital loss would have no impact on the dividend paid in 2025 on 2024 results as it will be excluded from the net income used to compute the payout ratio;
- On Renault S.A. statutory statements, a capital loss on disposal estimated at a maximum of €120 million would be booked;
- Tax impact would be non-significant.
This transaction will allow faster deleveraging and supports the Group’s determination to return to an investment grade rating.
[1] As September 27, 2024 is the ex-dividend date for Nissan fiscal year 2024 interim dividend, the Tokyo Stock Exchange share buyback rules require to deduct from the announcement date’s closing price an interim dividend equal to 2023 interim dividend (i.e., ¥5).
SOURCE: Renault Group
