Paris

Paris - French car maker Renault saw its profits plunge in 2008 after posting a huge loss in the second half of the year, the company said on Thursday.

Profits for last year totaled 571 million euros (735 million dollars), down 78.6 per cent from 2007, Renault said in a press statement.

The profit downturn was the result of a shrinking car market in the second half of 2008, when Renault posted a loss of 980 million euros.

Turnover for the year fell by 7 per cent, to 37.79 billion euros, as sales of Renault vehicles dropped by 4.1 per cent "in a world market that shrank by 5 per cent," the company said.

Paris - Everyone bar a saint can recall being curt with a supermarket checkout girl at some point, but after reading a new best-selling book in France, many a customer might think twice about being unfriendly to the woman behind the counter.

In her book "Les tribulations d'une caissiere" (The Trials of a Checkout Girl) Anna Sam, 28, dissects typical supermarket users, including many familiar types. Her critical eye registers the notorious moaners and the bargain hunters along with the shop-until- you-drop types and of course, the pleasant customers who do mind their manners. The book has already sold 100,000 copies in France and is set to be published in English later this year.

Paris - A French soldier

Paris - French pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi-Aventis said Wednesday it had surpassed expectations by posting profits of 7.186 billion euros (9.3 billion dollars) for last year, up 3.2 per cent on 2007.

Turnover rose by 3.7 per cent, to 27.568 billion euros, with sales in the United States increasing by more than 5 per cent, to 8.61 billion euros, the company said in a press statement.

New Sanofi-Aventis head Chris Viehbacher said in Paris that the firm would try to take advantage of its good results by expanding via the acquisition of small and mid-sized companies.

Paris - French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen said Wednesday that it lost 343 million euros (444 million dollars) in 2008, after registering a profit of 885 million euros the previous year.

Badly hit by the economic crisis, which forced the company to close down production in the fourth quarter, Peugeot also saw its turnover fall by 7.4 per cent last year, to
54.356 billion euros.