LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, 73, can remain CEO of the group until he turns 80, according to a vote at Thursday’s annual general meeting of the world’s largest luxury goods company.
The shareholders voted with 81.63 percent for the amendment to the articles of association, which sets the age limit for the function of general director at 80 years (instead of the previous 75 years). No proposal was made to change the age limit for the Chair, which according to the Statute is 75 years.
“You can be proud to be shareholders of LVMH, not only because of the results, not just because of the dividends, but also because of the group’s economic footprint in France,” CEO Bernard Arnault said earlier at the AGM. LVMH had commissioned the consulting firm Asteres to calculate the group’s economic footprint in France. Nicolas Bouzou, director of Asteres, explained the study in a video shown at the AGM.
The total employment generated by the LVMH group is “145,000 full-time jobs, the tax revenue of the group is 5.5 billion euros,” he said. “The LVMH Group produces a lot on French soil and exports a lot,” the economist recalled. After a record year 2021 with sales of 64 billion euros and a net profit of 12 billion euros, a dividend of 10 euros was proposed to LVMH shareholders. At the same time, the world’s largest luxury goods maker announced in early April that it had posted first-quarter sales of 18 billion euros, up 29 percent from the same period last year.
“The first quarter is good, early April is similar… What happens next depends on many things, the pandemic-related economy in China and the geopolitical situation in Europe. You can say ‘so far, so good’”, Bernard Arnault told the press on the fringes of the Annual General Meeting. (AFP)
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.fr. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ