Bernard Arnault, CEO of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, during the presentation of the 2024 financial results of the LVMH group as part of a general meeting of shareholders in Paris on April 17, 2025 (AFP / Thibaud Moritz)
The world number one luxury LVMH held its general assembly in a delicate context on Thursday when its sales are flexing, hoping for an agreement on customs duties and wanting to reassure the succession of Bernard Arnault.
“The year 2025 begins in a slightly heckled way, if you can say,” said the CEO of the Bernard Arnault group.
“Until the end of February, everything went very well. Then we arrived in front of a global geopolitical and economic situation which was upset by potential customs duties, by worsening international crises”, according to him.
The luxury number one had announced Tuesday sales down 2% in the first quarter, at 20.3 billion euros, disappointing analysts and making him lose his place as a first market capitalization of the CAC 40 for the benefit of Hermès. Thursday evening, LVMH narrowly resumed the title.
“Our situation is far from worrying,” said Bernard Arnault in the face of shareholders.
“The objective is to offer the best quality. And afterwards, growth follows more or less quickly and the bigger we are, the more difficult it is,” he noted, “or else we have to agree to trivialize things, what we categorically refuse, especially for our two main brands” Louis Vuitton and Dior, he added.
“Maybe we will do a little less growth,” he said, adding: “I don’t mind at all”.
The luxury sector counted on the American market to counterbalance the slowdown in sales in China, but must now face the new customs duties announced by Donald Trump.
Bernard Arnault, whose group produces 25% of its sales in the United States, called on European leaders to settle “amicably” the trade tensions between the European Union and the United States, even saying “favorable” to “a free trade area” between the two economic powers.
“These negotiations are vital for many companies in France and unfortunately, I have the impression that our British friends are more concrete in the progress of the negotiations,” deplored the CEO on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
– “Succession plans exist” –
“It is absolutely necessary to find an agreement, as the leaders of Brussels seem to try to find one for the German car. For French viticulture, it is vital,” he insisted. LVMH achieves 34% of its sales of wines and spirits (Dom Pérignon, Hennessy, Krug, …) in the United States.
Bernard Arnault, CEO of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, during the presentation of the 2024 financial results of the LVMH group as part of a general meeting of shareholders in Paris on April 17, 2025 (AFP / Thibaud Moritz)
If these negotiations did not succeed and that “we end up with high customs duties, (…) we will have to increase our American productions,” said Arnault. His group already has three Louis Vuitton workshops and four workshops from the American brand Tiffany in the United States.
“It should not be said that it is the fault of the companies. It will be Brussels’s fault if it were to happen,” said the businessman, who attended the inauguration of Donald Trump in January.
If the modification of the group’s statutes “in order to harmonize the age limits of the chairman of the board of directors and the director general” to bring them to 85 years has been acclaimed (99.18%), the question of succession was asked by shareholders.
“Succession plans exist,” replied Stéphane Bianchi, deputy managing director of the group. “The said plans are not intended to be revealed publicly. But of course, they exist both in medium-term hypotheses and in the event of sudden events,” he added.
He stressed that “the Board of Directors, and more specifically the sustainability and governance committee (…) composed exclusively of independent administrators, debate the succession plans every year, including corporate agents”.
Stéphane Bianchi also recalled that the Agache company, the Holding of the Arnault family, “was transformed into 2022 into a joint -commissioned corporation by joint -stock in order to perpetuate the group’s family control and the long -term vision”.
“This structure enaches precise rules which will make it possible to ensure in the future a single vote of the control shareholder on all subjects under its competence,” he added.
Bernard Arnault has not appointed a successor to date, but his five children all work for the group and four of them are on the board of directors. At the end of 2024, the Arnault family had 49% of the capital of LVMH and 64.81% of the votes.
