The ex-boss of BPCE Laurent Mignon, who arrived at the end of 2022 at the helm of the investment company Wendel, unveiled Thursday on the sidelines of the results the new strategy of the group, which is based in particular on the creation of a new profession of asset management for third parties.
Announcing an ambitious strategy to stimulate a new dynamic at Wendel, Laurent Mignon, who spoke during a press presentation, declared that he wanted to intensify and accelerate investments, with 2 billion euros within 24 months, in companies in Europe and North America.
Wendel is also seeking to become a more influential and active investor in (its) holdings, and will therefore focus on unlisted companies and, as a priority, on a majority basis.
Laurent Mignon has announced that he will be personally involved in Bureau Veritas, the main company in Wendel’s portfolio.
Finally, the investment company will launch a new management activity on behalf of third parties.
It is a source of creation of additional value and we do not forbid ourselves if necessary (…) from operations of acquisition of skills, acquisition of teams, even acquisition of structure to allow us to accelerating development, said Mr. Mignon
These new strategic priorities aim to deliver an average double-digit rate of return to shareholders.
In addition, Wendel published a drop in net profit of 37% in 2022, compared to 2021, to 656 million euros.
This reflects the disposal operations, with in particular the sale of Cromology to the Japanese Nippo Paint, announced last October 2021 but recognized in 2022, which contributed an accounting capital gain of 590 million euros, while in 2021 , IHS had generated an exceptional accounting capital gain close to one billion euros.
The revalued net asset, a key indicator for measuring the value of the portfolio, reached 167.9 euros per share, a decrease of 9.2% compared to the end of 2021, reflecting the fall in the equity markets in the value of listed assets, according to the press release published by the group.
As for the companies still in Wendel’s portfolio, they all have very good operational performance, insisted Laurent Mignon.
The group will propose on June 15 at its general meeting a dividend of 3.20 euros per share, an increase of 6.7%.