PARIS -- PSA Group reported a 1.1 percent decline in first-quarter revenue, as falling overseas sales and the automaker's withdrawal last year from Iran outweighed pricing improvements.
Revenue fell to 17.98 billion euros ($20.05 billion) from 18.2 billion a year earlier, PSA said in a statement on Thursday.
Chief Financial Officer Philippe de Rovira said PSA remains "fully focused" on its medium-term performance plan while pursuing the integration of the Opel-Vauxhall business acquired from General Motors in 2017.
Revenue at the core automotive division fell 1.8 percent to 14.16 billion euros, as vehicle sales by Opel to its former parent tailed off.
Exchange-rate setbacks also weighed on revenue to overcome the positive 3.6 percent improvement from higher pricing, and a new mix to reflect a sales shift to plusher models such as the midsize Peugeot 508 hatchback.
Those metrics, driven by PSA's performance in Europe, bode well for its future earnings, some analysts said.
"Investors might be willing to look through the weak headline figure, given how key mix is for profitability," Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said in a note to clients.
PSA's global deliveries have also been hit by a sustained sales collapse at its Chinese joint ventures and the group's withdrawal last year from Iran.
Sales volumes fell 16 percent to 886,400 vehicles in the quarter. Even excluding Iran, deliveries fell 6.1 percent, weighed down by a 30 percent decline in Latin America.
PSA reiterated its medium-term guidance for an average 4.5 percent automotive operating margin over the 2019-2021 period.
The company said it now expects the Latin American auto market to shrink 2 percent in 2019. PSA saw the European market as being stable, while it saw China falling by 3 percent and Russia growing 5 percent.
PSA plans to discontinue the Opel Adam and Karl minicars, and the Cascada convertible, to help meet tightening CO2 emissions regulations, De Rovira said.
