The investment firm controlled by the billionaire Peugeot family plans to overhaul its assets after a series of missteps and as a new generation prepares to take over.
“We have started to reposition the portfolio,” Peugeot Invest SA’s new chief executive officer, Jean-Charles Douin, said during results presentation after a 22% drop in net asset value last year. “We will incorporate the learnings from the past, what has worked for us and what hasn’t.”
Douin said that the investment firm’s board will map out the changes in coming weeks. He pledged more focus on certain sectors and increasingly active management, adding its 2024 results were “very disappointing.” He declined to comment further on which industries the firm might be looking at.
The shares fell 0.8% as of 2:10 p.m. in Paris, taking the decline over the past year to almost 35%.
The listed company, 80% controlled by the Peugeot clan, is working to move past an unprecedented minority shareholder revolt last year and a series of investment losses, including from the Signa real estate collapse and Orpea elderly-care scandal. Ninth-generation Edouard Peugeot, 41, is set to replace his 74-year-old father Robert as chairman in May.
“We believe that the bad news on some assets is behind us,” Deputy CEO Sebastien Coquard said.
The Peugeots, who trace their auto empire back to 1810, are among France’s most prominent industrial dynasties. While the investment firm is part of efforts to diversify, it remains one of the main shareholders in struggling carmaker Stellantis NV through the Peugeot 1810 entity.
The owner of car brands including Jeep and Fiat, as well as the eponymous brand, has seen its shares drop almost 60% over the past year. Coquard said a new CEO of Stellantis should be in place by the end of June.
Peugeot Invest also has minority stakes in a range of companies and this week sold half its holding in Spie SA. In November, it bought a stake in fragrance and flavor specialist Robertet SA for €125 million.
Its net asset value fell to €4.55 billion ($4.94 billion) at the end of last year from €5.95 billion at the end of 2023. That compares with a stock market capitalization of €1.9 billion, giving a discount of about 60%.
Minority shareholders expressed unhappiness last year about this discount as well as fees paid by the investment firm for use of the family name.
Executives on Friday said the brand licensing fees will be cut by a factor of three this year compared with 2024 but that there are “no immediate” plans for any share buybacks that could potentially bolster the stock price.
Written by: Tara Patel @Bloomberg
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