Yahoo Finance Kering’s Shares Are Down 18%, and It’s Hitting François Pinault’s Pocket Book
Kering is somewhat of an outlier in the luxury sphere this year, and its founding family isn’t too happy about that.
Shares in the luxury conglomerate are down 18 percent in 2024, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Rivals like LVMH and Hermès, meanwhile, have seen their stocks rise: The former has seen gains of 6 percent, while the latter has seen an impressive 20 percent increase. As such, Kering founder François Pinault’s wealth has been cut in half in just three years.
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“You’re disappointed, you’re frustrated—me too, I’m the first, be sure of that,” Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault told shareholders during the company’s annual general meeting, according to Bloomberg. “It’s a permanent concern.”
Earlier this week, Kering said it was expecting its profits to decline as much as 45 percent in the first half of this year, a steep drop-off that didn’t reassure those who have invested in the company. On Thursday, one of Pinault’s deputy CEOs noted that Kering has “energy and determination” to respond to the less-than-stellar stock performance, Bloomberg wrote.
That decline has seen François Pinault’s net worth plummet from $59 billion in August 2021 to $29.4 billion as of Wednesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His family has a 42 percent stake in the company, with 59 percent of the voting rights, which contributes most of the patriarch’s wealth.
In an attempt to turn around Kering’s fortunes, the company will focus mainly on Gucci, which makes up more than two-thirds of the conglomerate’s profitability, according to Bloomberg. Francesca Bellettini, another deputy CEO and the head of brand development, said on Thursday that Gucci had lagged in updating its products post-pandemic. Last year, Sabato De Sarno took over as the brand’s creative director, and now Kering working to make Gucci even more exclusive and coveted.
“It will take some time, but we’ll manage,” François-Henri Pinault said.
Kering is also in charge of brands like Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga. According to a new ranking, all three of those brands are among the 10 hottest labels in the first quarter of 2024. Perhaps that’ll help boost Kering throughout the rest of the year, despite Gucci potentially lagging behind. Although with the renewed efforts to elevate Gucci, maybe that brand will crack the top 10 soon enough.
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