PARIS, June 24 (Reuters) - France's Renault SA showed just how bad sentiment in the car industry has got by bagging an Oscar-style shareholder value award even after its investor return slumped by 25 percent in a year.
Despite the seemingly dismal performance, Renault still did better than its rivals, beating a 40-percent slump by the wider European sector, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers index which tracks the value of 100 euros invested in each stock over 12 months.
"Minus 25 percent is not much to brag about," acknowledged Renault Chairman Louis Schweitzer as he received the award at an industry conference in Paris. "I hope that one day I'll deserve it."
Demand for new cars in Europe is expected to slide by around three to four percent this year and the DJ Stoxx European autos index lost nearly 45 percent of its value in the 12 months to the start of June.
Renault has fared better than some peers because of tough cost-cutting and strong sales outside Europe, which helped it beat a key profitability target last year. Investors are hoping its earnings will keep growing thanks to a raft of new models such as the Megane Scenic.
The firm has also got a boost from its 44.4-percent owned Japanese affiliate Nissan Motor Co , whose performance has rapidly improved due to a turnaround plan initiated by the French automaker.