PSA Peugeot Beats Full-Year Forecasts

PSA Peugeot SA (PEUGF) posted much better-than-expected full year earnings Thursday and said it would pay shareholders the first dividend in six years after a solid 2017 outlook.

The French carmaker, which is in advanced talks to buy the European operations of General Motors (GM) - Get Report , said net income rose 92% last year to €1.73 billion ($1.83 billion) while its operating income rose 18% to €3.24 billion. The group said it had a cash position of €6.8 billion as of Dec. 31 and would "deploy this cash to make profitable investments ... in the interest of our shareholders," according to the company. Part of that will go to paying a €0.48 per share dividend.