By Dominique Patton
PARIS (Reuters) -Renault named its finance chief Duncan Minto as interim CEO on Tuesday, and said it will step up cost cutting measures after cutting its forecast for full year operating margins following a worse than expected performance in June.
Renault said it now aims to achieve a full year operating margin of 6.5% compared with more than 7% previously announced. And it aims for free cash-flow of 1-1.5 billion euros, versus over 2 billion euros previously.
It said these results have been impacted by a lower-than-anticipated performance in June, including volumes slightly lower than expected, an underperformance of the light commercial vehicle business in a sharply declining market in Europe and a level of receivables impacted by billing timing differences.
Minto, who has been in the Renault group since 1997, has taken over running the company from Tuesday as it searches for a permanent replacement for Luca de Meo who resigned suddenly last month to join luxury group Kering.
Minto will ensure the day-to-day management of the company alongside Jean-Dominique Senard, who will hold the position of chairman, Renault said in a statement.
(Writing by Dominique Patton and Ingrid Melander;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
