French carmaker PSA, which owns the Peugeot and Citroen brands, said Thursday net profits for 2016 nearly doubled with the group saying it would pay shareholder dividends for the first time since 2011. 

The results, which showed net profit rising 79 percent to 2.15 billion euros ($2.27 billion), comes as the automaker is locked in talks over a planned takeover of General Motors' European brands Opel and Vauxhall.