Peugeot eyes savings, asset sales on profit tumble

PARIS Feb 15 (Reuters) - PSA Peugeot Citroen raised its savings target and said it would sell assets including a stake in trucking unit Gefco to keep rising debt in check after its core auto division swung to a full-year loss.

The automotive operating loss excluding one-time items was 92 million euros ($121 million), after a 621 million profit the previous year, Europe's second-biggest automaker said on Wednesday.

That implies a 497 million-euro loss in the second half, after a 405 million profit posted in the first six months of 2011.

"These poor results do not undermine the strategy we've been following," Chief Financial Officer Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon said. "We're giving ourselves the resources to pursue it." ($1 = 0.7616 euros) (Reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by James Regan)