Thank you and good evening. Thank you, all of you, for joining our call at a moment's notice. This call is recorded and will be available on replay on our website. I will shortly leave the phone to François-Henri Pinault for some introductory remarks. Jean-Marc Duplaix will provide some additional insights before we take a few questions. As we only have about half an hour in total, I will kindly ask you to limit the number of your questions and go straight to the point. Of course, please focus your question on today's topic. We thank you. Now, François-Henri.
Thank you, Claire. Good evening to all of you. I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss with you the statement that we put out a few minutes ago. I also want to thank you for getting on this call with such short notice. We thought it would be useful to provide you with more context on this very important development in our company's life. First and foremost, I want to tell you that today's announcement is the conclusion of a long process, one that I began in early 2023 and that had gained momentum, of course, in the recent months. This afternoon, I have chaired a board meeting that approved the appointment of Luca de Meo as CEO of Kering. He will join the group on September 15.
Before that date, in early September, we will hold a shareholder meeting that will, among other items, officialize the split of responsibilities between Chairman and CEO. As of Luca's arrival, I will, of course, continue to assume my role as Chairman of the board. As you know, I have been at the helm of the group for more than 20 years now. During that time, I must say that I'm proud to have driven a complete transformation of what was PPO into Kering, which has become a pure player in the luxury sector. Over this period of time, Kering has radically changed dimension and stature. We built a complementary portfolio of exceptional brands, and we established the group as one of the few leaders in the luxury industry. On more than one occasion, we proved our skills at growing and uplifting brands.
As I have told you already at some of our previous encounters, the group performance in the past two years has been not up to our expectations, nor to the immense potential of our houses. This should not overshadow two decades of outstanding results, during which many of our brands reached new heights. We can all take pride in what we have achieved together. In 2022, following this period of rapid growth and successful transformation, Kering had the best year in its history. It also became clear to me that we have reached a stage that required a new organization, one that could enhance the stewardship of our houses and solidify our support to their operations. This is why, nearly two years ago, I appointed two deputy CEOs. Together with Francesca and Jean-Marc, we have reinforced our fundamentals and the effectiveness of our execution.
We have implemented significant changes, made major appointments, and not only at the level of brand CEOs or artistic Directors. We have strengthened our execution and way of working at all levels. This in-depth and essential work had to be done. It had been done. This will pay off in the near future. Once this new setup was in place with the board and its nomination committee, I decided to intensify our work on the evolution of our group governance. In particular, we focused on two areas. First, the separation of the roles of Chairman and CEO, and then the identification of potential candidates for the CEO position. Since the start, our succession planning process has been quite disciplined and well-structured, I must say. We appointed two executive search firms with extensive experience in board-level hires. Our search included both internal and external candidates.
We narrowed down our criteria and defined the right profiles. Over the course of the past few months, we conducted far-reaching talks with a number of highly respected CEO contenders. We were looking for a seasoned executive with deep brand management expertise and international capabilities. The aptitude to bring a fresh vision of the sector and of our group was a key requisite. Experience of heading a global publicly traded company was an added consideration, of course. Above all, in a fast-moving economic environment and with considerable mutations in our own industry, I wanted someone who had demonstrated agility and ability to deal with change. Among all the candidates I spoke with, Luca de Meo clearly stood out.
He has the qualities, he has the energy, the sense of urgency that we need to take over the reins of the group and to extend and accelerate the work we have done so far. I am absolutely convinced that now is the right time to carry out this change. Luca's track record speaks for itself. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated his affinity with the product side of things and his passion for managing and revitalizing brands, drawing on the heritage and iconic models. He has also proven his skills at leading major transformations in the companies he has run, and I'm talking from Fiat when he was still in his 30s to the Renault Group more recently in the past five years. Luca deploys a 360-degree strategic vision spanning customer understanding, marketing, branding, supply chain, finance, and technology.
He has shown a strong appetite for innovation in all these positions. I would say that his leadership style is hands-on, very communicative, and effective. With his international multicultural background and fluency in a number of languages, he brings a global perspective on markets and on growth. He is also known for uniting teams around him and around shared value and mission. He will be working with many of the best experts in luxury present at all levels of our group and our houses. I saw in him the leader capable of bringing forward a renewed vision for the group, and the whole board rapidly came behind his candidacy. As Chairman of the Board of Directors, I will remain fully involved alongside Luca, and it is with the greatest confidence that I can trust him today with the leadership of the group.
I am very confident in our future, and I know that thanks to the commitment of our team and the strength of our houses, Kering will continue to thrive and write a bold, ambitious story and being true to its culture. Now, we'll hand the mic to Jean-Marc, see if you can say, Jean-Marc, a few words of our next steps.
Yes, of course, and thank you, François-Henri. The appointment of Luca de Meo will require that a number of corporate governance items be addressed in fairly short order. In particular, it will trigger the holding of a shareholder meeting prior to Luca's arrival. The meeting is currently scheduled for September 9, and the agenda should notably include the following three items. First, shareholders will be asked to approve the appointment of Luca de Meo to the Board of Directors. Second, a new 2025 remunerations policy applying to the separate functions of CEO and Chairman of the Board needs to be endorsed. And finally, we will ask the meeting to vote on changes to the age limit currently applying to both the CEO and the Chairman of the Board. Additionally, you know that at Kering, we are attached to implementing the highest standards in terms of best governance practices.
In that regard, the board has considered essential that we maintain the role of lead independent director, a position that we have established in 2019 and that has existed continuously since that date. And now, we are ready to take a few questions. Operator?
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A queue. This will only take a few moments. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two . Please ask your questions as distinctly as possible and put on mute all devices apart from the phone you are using to ask your question. The first question is from Édouard Aubin of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good afternoon, and thank you so much for holding that call. François-Henri, two quick ones on Luca de Meo. The first one is you mentioned that the search had started, or at least the reflection or the thoughts had started in 2023. If I can, if you would not mind telling us for how long you have personally known Mr. de Meo, that would be my first question. The second one is you mentioned a number of features that make him an attractive candidate to lead Kering going forward. Indeed, he has an extremely strong reputation. The industry dynamics are obviously quite different in terms of the automotive industry versus the luxury industry. He has done, from what I understand, a great job managing the cost base, among other things, at the company he has worked for so far in the automotive industry.
As we know, in luxury, building a brand desirability is more important than managing the cost base. So what makes you confident that he possesses these skills to enhance the brand desirability and that will translate to growth going forward? Thank you so much.
Thank you, Édouard, for your question. First of all, to make it very simple, I did not know Luca de Meo personally before the process of recruitment. We met a few months ago. It is someone that I discovered. Let me tell you, the fit and the chemistry between us was obvious after one or two minutes. It was a great encounter, by the way.
This is why I decided to move forward very fast, not without sending all the track records that he has, but also some key values that we share together in terms of the importance of group culture and the way he perceives others and the reputation he has left in all the companies he went through, with which he kept a great relationship, which tells a lot about his loyalty and all those elements that, for me, are quite important beyond, of course, his, as you call them, main features as a leader. To answer your second question as a follow-up of that first answer is that, of course, I'm not recruiting, as we say, a pompier. How would you say that?
Fireman.
Firefighter. It's not the point. What I think is that we need to prepare this new step of our development, someone with a fresh vision, a new perspective on the market, on the luxury market, taking into consideration that beyond the cyclicality of what we are living right now in the luxury industry, we are facing structural changes that need new vision, new perspective, new ways of looking at things. This was also the situation when I transformed Kering back in 2010, 2011, facing new structural changes in this industry. Being a newcomer in the industry is a very, very strong position to really handle such a period of time. Of course, he has a great track record in running those companies that he went through. He is also a great developer. He has a strong vision. He is a strategic thinker.
At the same time, he's very operational, and he has a deep understanding of all the value chain where he went. I'm pretty sure that we will go through that in our own industry. Again, he's coming in a group where I have very strong expertise at group level, at brand level of the luxury industry, of managing a luxury brand. That's why there won't be any slowdown in what we are implementing right now in all the action plans that we are taking in the brands. He will bring his approach, his new way of looking at things that, for me, will be very precious short-term, midterm, and long-term for the group.
Okay, many thanks and congratulations.
The next question is from [Charles Scutti] of [Tableur Chevreux]. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you very much for taking my question. You mentioned in the press release that the compensation committee will meet to approve the compensation policies for the new organization. Could you already give us an idea of the metrics and/or financial and non-financial objectives on which the variable component will be based? I guess it might be a little bit too early. We have also an idea of the length of Mr. de Meo's term at Kering. Thank you.
Maybe on the second part, can you just repeat, if you don't mind, the length?
The term of the mandate, yes.
Okay. Maybe I will start with the first one, if you don't mind. I think that all the details regarding the subjects that will be submitted to the shareholders' meeting will be presented when the Board of Directors that is scheduled on July 29 will discuss these matters. It will be the due time to review both the topic around the age, the limit of age, and the compensation.
That would be, as mentioned by Jean-Marc Duplaix, July 29 by the board. Today, of course, we presented the recommendation of the nomination committee and the compensation committee to the board. We will have another compensation committee on the 25th of July to be presenting on the board of the 29, of course, to be approved at the AGM, which should be taking place on September 9 to approve all that. Regarding the length, as long as possible, of course.
The only, as you know, he's a board member, and he will be approved by the AGM in September 9 as a board member of Kering. So we will have a mandate the same length as any other board member, which is four years, but of course, to be renewed. And this is also the sense of changing the date, the age, the age limit that we have all for the CEO, or even for me as Chairman of the board.
Thank you very much.
The next question is from Antoine [Belge] of BNP. Please go ahead.
Hello, hi. It's Antoine [Belge] at BNP. Three questions, if I may. First of all, two years ago, you implemented a structure with two Deputy CEOs. I would like to understand if that will remain. My second question, I'm not sure you will answer, but was the new CEO aware of or involved in the nomination of Demna as a Creative Director, or was it something that was kept separate? Finally, regarding yourself, does it mean that you will be a bit less involved in the, I wouldn't say the management, but the strategic orientation of the group? Thank you.
Thank you, Antoine, for the question. Three questions. We like you very much.
You exceed the limit, of course.
Okay. First question, yes, as I mentioned, I started this process early 2023. First of all, I have to tell you that this decision of looking at my succession, it's a personal decision, a target that I fixed to myself back in 2019. I said, and I mentioned that inside the group, that after 20 years, it was time to organize that when it will come. We are now at that time. I started that in 2023. After the year of 2022, as I mentioned, was a great year for her, but also a year where I had to make some key decisions at Gucci with Alessandro's leaving and preparing also the departure of Marco Bizzarri as CEO of Gucci.
I knew that we would need to have some transformation to be made at brand level to prepare the next stage of development of the group. We were starting to see signals of slowdown in front of us. This is why I started first by changing the organization to reinforce the stewardship of the group on the brand at the time by having Jean-Marc and Francesca Deputy CEO of the group. I must say that the work that has been achieved so far, group level, brand level by this organization, is absolutely amazing. I'm fully aware that we don't see yet in the figures the result of that, but let me tell you, we were not in a standstill mode at all. Things are moving very fast in terms of organization transformation, in terms of key position in the brands or at group level.
Things are moving fast. Things are very, very well advanced since the last two years. Of course, Luca, who is coming to join us as CEO, does not know the luxury industry. We will need strong support and strong expertise around him. We have that inside the group, starting with Jean-Marc and Francesca. He is a fully-fledged CEO. He will have all the power and empowerment on my side as CEO, as I was running the group. He will have to set his own priorities, to look at the organization of the group, to look at the key position of the group. That is, for me, the key responsibilities and freedom of a CEO, of a real CEO of a group. It comes with that freedom of looking at those things.
As I said, we won't slow down all the action plan that has been defined for 2025. Of course, he will step in in September, and then we will continue to move with him. He will have full liberty to take the decision he wants to take. Of course, he will have to present a strategy to the board. The board will look at that precisely with me. We will move forward in the next few months and few years.
Okay.
The last question was about my involvement. Of course, as I remain Chairman, I will be fully involved in the strategic orientation of the group as a Chairman. I will have the responsibility of the board and the organization of the board. I won't step in and short-circuit the new CEO in his prerogative regarding the priorities, the organization, or the key appointments of the group, of course.
There was a question about.
Oh, yeah, there was a question. No, of course not. Luca was fully dedicated to his position at Renault. He was absolutely not involved in the choice of Demna. As I said, I met with him early this year, and we had, of course, a few meetings together. He met also some members of the nomination committee, but absolutely not, of course, until the decision. He won't be involved in the decision before September 15. That's obvious.
Thank you very much.
The next question is from Thomas Chauvet of Citi. Please go ahead.
Good evening, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. I have two. The first one, François-Henri, just coming back to the profile of Luca de Meo, have you chosen someone totally outside the luxury industry or even outside the traditional consumer space because you think Kering needs to really reinvent itself a bit further than maybe the last couple of years? If so, in which areas do you think he can bring something valuable to, perhaps not just to Kering, but to an industry which has gone a bit ex-growth in the last two years? Secondly, you just mentioned, François-Henri, that Luca de Meo will have full freedom to review certain strategic priorities.
Would you say that the focus initiated by you, Jean-Marc, and Jean-François before that to reduce the debt of the group, particularly with real estate transactions, will still be high up on his agenda and on the group's agenda? Also, the Valentino transaction, could that transaction be reviewed one way or another, particularly the call put option that 2026, 2028? Thank you.
Just maybe to say that after Thomas' question, we will take the last one.
Okay. Thomas, thank you for your question. In the choice of Luca, of course, as I said in my preliminary remarks, we had two profiles, one from outside of the luxury industry. Of course, we had also profiles from industry experts. One candidate, of course, was an internal candidate. What I thought in the process is that by looking at outside of the industry was something important not only for the group, but for this moment of this industry. Again, in my thinking, I did the parallel with the position I had in 2010, 2011, 2012, when I was finalizing the transformation of PPR into Kering. Being a newcomer in this industry myself, I remember up until 2012, we had the Gucci group in between PPR and the luxury brands. We were not really involved in that industry.
Having a fresh eye, a fresh vision myself at this moment in time was, I think, one of the key elements of our capability to reposition the brand in 2013, 2014. What I expect from the profile of Luca is bringing that on top of our luxury expertise inside the group and on top of everything that has been achieved over the last two years, which were absolutely necessary before thinking of this succession. For me, those two years of putting in place the fundamentals of the brands, particularly at Gucci, review the organization, making sure that every priority was in the right order in the brands, and particularly at Gucci again, was key. Having the right people at the right position in the group so that when a new CEO comes, everything is up and running. Of course, as I said, he's a fully-fledged CEO.
He has the freedom to take his decision. He will have to assess the organization, to assess the key position of the group. That is, of course, very important when you come on board of a company like Kering as a new CEO. He will bring these new ways of looking at things that he has from his professional experience. As you know, he has a profile that is very, very strong. We had great conversation already when it comes to brand management, product, of course, not in the luxury space, but from his experience. That will be very precious. In terms of his capability and his way of entering and understanding all the value chain stage of the industry will be also very important, not only product and branding, but also as a supply chain.
He will be, for sure, bringing some new ideas, some new vision on that part of the business. Again, what was also very important to me is his personality, his values, his way of looking at the culture of a group, of a corporation. What he did in his previous experience in terms of corporate culture is very important also in the choice and in his fit with the group culture at Kering. That is very important to us. In terms of priorities, as we all know, and then we mentioned that in February when we were presenting the 2024 results, among our priorities at group level, we are working on the level of debt of the group, of course. As mentioned, we are refinancing, and we are well advanced in the refinancing of our real estate assets. It is not new, it has been said.
We will continue to deliver on that topic. I'm pretty sure of that. When it comes to Valentino, nothing new under the sky. We had 30%. We had pool and co-option coming up to us, but I'm not worried about that for the group in the coming month and in the coming year. Of course, we will have discussion with Luca about that, but he knows about the also, Luca is coming to be the head of the next chapter of growth of the group. Short-term-wise, he will have to cope with all the effort and action plan that we are taking on the cost structure, on the deleveraging of the group that is well advanced. More importantly, I ask him also to think of near future and long term in what could be the profile of Kering in the next 10 years - 15 years.
For me, I'm also bringing a developer in the group, Helm, with Luca joining the group.
Thank you.
The next question is from Oliver Chan of TD Cowen. Please go ahead.
Hi there. Thank you for taking our question. This is Katie on for Oliver. We would just like to ask more on sort of the brand autonomy and the development of each individual brand within the portfolio and how you're thinking about the key priorities for each brand with Luca's fresh vision and how that might change, particularly for Gucci and the key priorities there. Thank you.
Again, it's not a disruption in the action plans that we are developing across the brand and at group level. We are full speed in preparing the group to go through this crisis and working on priorities in terms of cost structure, in terms of deleveraging, in terms of repositioning of some brands. This will not change. Of course, Luca is arriving September 15 and not freezing anything until then. The priority that we have set with Francesca for the brands remains the same. We are continuing to move full speed towards those priorities. There will not be any change about that. Of course, he will come up on board, look at all those action plans. That will be his initiative going forward as soon as he comes on board. Again, I do not expect a revolution, to be honest.
We've been thinking through the strategy of the brands very, very deeply with Francesca and all the teams. This will be implemented as we started already in all the brands and at group level.
That was the last question.
Thank you again for joining us for this brief call. I think it was important to give you more detail and more background on this very important decision for the group. Thank you again for your questions. Of course, you will have more questions going forward. As usual, Claire and the investor relation team are available for any follow-up that you need. I wish you a very nice evening. Thank you.
Thank you.