27/01/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | JAN 27, 2026

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LVMH investors demand clarity on succession plan

PARIS: Some LVMH shareholders are seeking clarity on how and to whom Bernard Arnault ( pic ) plans to hand over leadership of the luxury giant he has been steering for almost 40 years, saying the lack of transparency is increasingly becoming a risk for the group. Arnault, who oversees the US$350 billion group spanning over 70 brands including Dior and Tiffany, has five children involved in the running of his luxury empire but has shown no sign of wanting to retire. At 76, he has yet to pick a successor. Questions have long swirled in corporate Europe about who will succeed Arnault, France’s richest man who last April extended the age limit for his combined CEO and chair role for a second time, to 85. In the strongest public comments to date on the issue, some of LVMH’s shareholders told Reuters the unresolved succession issue has become a liability for the company. “The succession planning, as of now, appears unclear and opaque,” said Stefan Bauknecht, equity portfolio manager at Deutsche Bank’s DWS, LVMH’s 12th-largest shareholder according to LSEG data. “We want more transparency and a plan on how things will evolve.” “Ten years ago, succession was not a pressing issue. Today, it has become a risk factor and leads to a governance discount on the company,” said Ariane Hayate, European Fund Manager at Edmond de Rothschild in Paris, which holds LVMH stock.

o Arnault extends age limit for his combined CEO and chair role to 85

second – each owning a 20% stake. The unit will head Agache SCA, the holding at the top of the control chain, as soon as Arnault leaves the role. Barring specific instructions from Arnault, his heirs would make any decision by a majority of three, corporate filings show. “This is a time bomb,” said Kedge Business School professor Eric Pichet, who focuses on corporate governance. “There are always tensions in a second generation. And when you are five, it can’t be avoided.” LVMH told Reuters the alleged risk of gridlock at the holding company level “does not exist”. While a majority of shareholders backed the move last April to extend Arnault’s tenure, there were notable dissenting votes. Asset manager Baillie Gifford abstained, citing concerns about “the lack of detailed disclosure around succession plans”. Large investor Allianz GI voted against the resolution. Both declined to comment for this story. – Reuters

give you a more precise answer,” he told CNBC in December. “As in every family, at one point, there is a succession but I hope that, unless I get the ball on the head in a tennis court, I will make these 10 years.” Reuters interviewed seven institutional investors, six of them LVMH shareholders. All of them said they had no idea about the company’s succession plans, with four describing the lack of clarity as problematic. “I am unaware of any emergency plan, for example a group of caretakers who would activate quickly and secure Arnault’s legacy. Such things are simply missing,” Bauknecht said. LVMH said its plans, even though they won’t be revealed, cover both the medium-term view and the scenario of “sudden events”. Others described the topic as taboo in conversations with the company. Two large long-term investors said they expected the issue to weigh on LVMH’s share price as time passes. Berenberg analyst Nick Anderson

LVMH, which is due to report annual results on Tuesday, said in detailed responses to Reuters’ questions that succession plans for its executives are not public, but “obviously they do exist”, without referring specifically to Arnault’s role. Investors said the latest age extension appeared to be an attempt to buy Arnault time to decide. “They (LVMH) probably can’t give the clarity because he doesn’t have clarity in his own mind,” said Paul Moroz of Mawer Investment Management, another LVMH investor. “You really don’t know until it’s done, but it’s probably low odds it works out.” Arnault has indicated the subject is not top of his agenda. “Talk to me again in 10 years, I can

said he had noticed an uptick in market scrutiny of the issue, but saw no evidence yet of a “succession discount”. Regulatory filings from a 2022 restructuring of the chain of holding companies that control a majority of voting rights in LVMH only offer a glimpse into the family’s transition plans. A new legal entity, Agache Commandite SAS, was created with Arnault’s five children – Delphine and Antoine Arnault from his first marriage, and Alexandre, Frederic and Jean from his

Almost half of French real estate agents enable racism: Study PARIS: Almost half of real estate agencies in France accept or enable racial discrimination in access to housing, according to a survey published on Sunday. The anti-discrimination group “SOS Racisme” contacted 198 real estate agencies in 2025, posing as landlords and requesting“European”tenants as a way to avoid “neighbourhood problems”. Of the 198 agencies, 48 (24.2%) agreed to select tenants on such a basis, while another 48 allowed or encouraged the prospective landlord to select them on a racial basis themselves, according to the report that was revealed by Le Parisien and seen by AFP. That means that almost half encouraged or enabled racial prejudice, while 102 agencies (51.5%) refused to discriminate and explicitly opposed tenant selection based on racial criteria. The survey “highlights a worrying persistence of discriminatory practices that are nevertheless prohibited under criminal law”, SOS Racisme stated in a press release. Equality Minister Aurore Berge, reacting to the results, told Le Parisien that“the SOS Racisme report shows there is still a long way to go” and reiterated that “discrimination is illegal”. Berge announced the introduction of mandatory discrimination training for all real estate agents. Training is currently only compulsory for professional licence holders – less than half of all agents. She said a decree could be expected “in the coming weeks”. SOS Racisme conducted similar surveys in 2019 and 2022, and the latest findings show no improvement: in 2022, 48.5% of 136 agencies directly accepted (25%) or facilitated (23.5%) discriminatory requests. In a letter addressed to lawmakers, SOS Racisme president Dominique Sopo on Sunday called on deputies to “speak out loud and clear” against discrimination. – AFP

A Ryanair plane takes off from Dublin Airport. – REUTERSPIC

Ryanair lifts fare growth forecast on strong bookings DUBLIN: Ryanair yesterday boosted its forecast for average fare growth after bookings for 2026 got off to a strong start and predicted annual after-tax profit would likely jump by a third. the 7% that we saw decline last year, but 1 or 2 percentage points on top of that,” he said. The airline is “cautiously guiding” pre-exceptional after-tax profit to land between €2.13 billion and €2.23 billion (RM9.9 billion-RM10.7 billion). full €256 million fine would be overturned on appeal, although that could take a year or two. Ryanair has been forced to cut capacity growth in recent years due to delays at Boeing, but relations with the US firm are now going “exceedingly well”, Sorahan said.

The Irish airline, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, said average fares would be 1 or 2 percentage points higher for the year to March 31 than the 7% annual growth it forecast in November. “Consumer demand is very strong. We’ve had our two best-ever booking weeks in the last couple of weeks. I see no slowdown in people wanting to get away,” chief financial officer Neil Sorahan said in an interview. “We think we will recover not only all of

That’s far better than the €1.6 billion it booked last year and in line with the €2.22 billion forecast from an LSEG poll of analysts. Ryanair earned an after-tax profit of €115 million in the final three months of 2025 excluding an exceptional €85 million charge related to a fine from the Italian competition authority in December. Chief executive Michael O’Leary said in a video statement that he was confident the

The last four 737 MAX 200 aircraft of Ryanair’s current order are on schedule to be delivered on time by the end of February and the airline is “increasingly confident” that the first 15 of 150 new 737 MAX 10s will be delivered on time in spring 2027, he added. Boeing has told Ryanair they expect certification of the MAX 10 between July and September next year, Sorahan said. – Reuters