A little red number that makes the difference and that tells how even in 2023 the value of the assets (net of debt) of Exor, the Agnelli family holding, grew by around 7.3 billion reaching 35.5 billion euros (it stood 28.2 billion at the end of December 2022). The necessary premise to identify the method of calculating the value of assets: listed shareholdings and other securities are valued at official market trading prices. Unlisted shareholdings are instead valued at their book value determined annually by independent experts. A year that weighed on the companies owned by the Agnelli-Elkann-Nasi holding – 53% controlled by the Giovanni Agnelli Bv corporate group – resulting in a consolidated profit of 4.19 billion, 33 million less than the previous year.
The dividend for shareholders
The dividend for shareholders will be around 100 million, equal to 0.46 per share (in 2023 Exor was 0.44 per share, two cents less). The holding company’s shares are approximately 225 million (224,828,073) so the overall dividend will be approximately 103.4 million euros. This means that Giovanni Agnelli Bv, the first shareholder of Exor with 53.6% of the shares (125,343,372) as well as the safe of the Turin dynasty given that the shareholders can only be the various branches of the Agnelli-Elkann family, will collect around 57 .7 million in dividends, compared to 55 million for the 2022 budget. The remaining share is attributable to the plethora of shareholders in Exor’s capital, mostly institutional and retail investors.
The control of December
But how is the shareholder structure of Giovanni Agnelli Bv structured? After the last reorganization, Dicembre (linked to the branch of the Giovanni Agnelli heirs and led by John Elkann) increased its control over the Dutch company up to 39.7%. Following we find the branch of Maria Sole which is the second shareholder with 11.2%, while the heirs of Umberto Agnelli, represented by Andrea Agnelli and his sister Anna, have a stake of their ownership which has decreased after the latest adjustments to the 8.9%.
The shareholder structure of Giovanni Agneli Bv
December (John Elkann and heirs Giovanni Agnelli) – 39.7%
Maria Sole Agnelli branch – 11.2%
Umberto Agnelli branch (Andrea Agnelli and Anna Agnelli) – 8.9%
Giovanni Nasi branch – 8.7%
Laura Nasi-Camerana branch – 6%
Cristiana Agnelli branch – 5.05%
Susanna Agnelli branch – 4.7%
Clara Nasi-Ferrero branch of Ventimiglia – 3.4%
Emanuele Nasi branch – 2.5%
Clara Agnelli branch – 0.28%
Own shares – 8.2%
The comparison of the value of the assets compared to the market
The Nav (i.e. the value of assets net of debt) per share therefore increased by 32.7% in 2023, exceeding the MSCI World Index by 15.1 percentage points mainly “thanks to the share performances of Ferrari and Stellantis”, underlines the note. The proposed coupon to shareholders will obviously be submitted to the Exor shareholders’ meeting. «The main factor that determined the growth of our NAV per share this year was the excellent performance of our major companies Ferrari and Stellantis, whose value is
grew by 52% and 59% respectively: a combined increase of 8.2 billion”, explains John Elkann in the ritual letter to shareholders.
The galaxy of subsidiaries
Exor is the controlling shareholder, with 26.9% of CNH Industrial. It is the controlling shareholder of Ferrari, with 22.91% of the shares because the rest is floating by choice of Sergio Marchionne with the relative listing in Milan and New York. In the Exor galaxy there is also Juventus, the Gedi publishing group, the British weekly The Economist. Finally, the investments in recent years that smack of diversification in the parent company’s investment strategy: 200 million for the New York mobility app Via, 80 million for Shang Xia, a Chinese fashion and design company that grew thanks to Hermes. Exor recently acquired a 2.96% stake in Philips, increasing its stake to 15%.
The value of Stellantis
The reasoning regarding Stellantis is interesting, of which Exor is the first shareholder and of which Elkann holds the position of president. Stellantis has placed electrification at the center of its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan which aims to achieve 100% of car sales in Europe and 50% of car and light commercial vehicle sales in the United States by the end of the decade. from battery electric vehicles. Stellantis is on track to achieve this goal, with global BEV sales growing 21% year-on-year,” says Elkann.
But proxy advisors dispute the compensation policies
Yet there are many criticisms about the management. Recently, the consultants of large international investors rejected the 36.5 million euro compensation received in 2023 by the CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares. In view of the meeting of 16 April 2024, the proxy advisor ISS and Glass Lewis recommended that the funds vote against the report on the remuneration of the car manufacturer’s managers. In their opinion, despite Stellantis’ excellent economic and financial results, Tavares’ pay is “excessive” and poses a risk to the company’s reputation in light of the redundancy plans launched by the group in Italy, France and the United States. Iss and Glass Lewis have not spared criticism of the president of Stellantis, Elkann, for the personal use of the company jet, which cost 430 thousand euros last year.
Portfolio diversification
Portfolio diversification increases after the sale of PartnerRe: «in 2023 5.4 billion were invested in companies, investments and share buybacks, maintaining a solid balance sheet with an LTV (Loan To Value) ratio of 10% at the end of the year”, explains Exor. Above all, «the rising cost of health services, combined with the shortage of medical personnel, is leading to a demand for new innovative approaches in addressing global health problems. For these reasons, we have invested a total of almost 4 billion euros in the healthcare sector, investing both in companies and through Exor Ventures”, added John Elkann. Since it was founded, Exor Ventures has invested just over $600 million in approximately 100 companies. “Despite a difficult market in 2023, Ventures found many good opportunities, deploying approximately $100 million in 22 new investments, of which approximately 40% in early-stage startups in the healthcare sector,” explains a note from Exor.
Studies on the genome
Elkann says that «new tools and devices are capable of processing biological data with an unprecedented level of accuracy, speed and volume. Like semiconductors in electronics, sequencers and other life science tools enable analog-to-digital conversion of biological data, improving our understanding of disease. Since the original sequencing of the human genome in 2000, technological innovations have reduced the cost of sequencing from a few hundred million dollars to $100 today. This has been a major evolutionary factor in the biotechnology industry, giving rise to
new diagnoses and therapeutic modalities, including cell and gene therapies. We expect a similar revolution in related fields such as proteomics, which the Ventures team is watching closely.”
The strategies
Furthermore, we are faced with a real discontinuity in diversification strategies. Which could be said like this: less automotive, even if Exor remains the first shareholder of Stellantis, more luxury, fashion and health which guarantee higher multiples compared to a capital-intensive sector now that we have to focus on electric. The cost of the transition (and the heavy constraints on carbon dioxide emissions with the targets to be met) lead to inevitable mergers so as not to completely compress profitability. In the background stands the hypothesis of a merger with Renault, pushed by the French government, although denied by Stellantis leaders.
The focus on Juventus
For Juventus «2023 represented a year of transition. Under the new Board of Directors, chaired by Gianluca Ferrero, attention was focused on resolving problems with Sports Justice, both in Italy and in Europe”, explains Elkann underlining that “the 2023/24 season is therefore the year zero for Juventus, where the club is laying the foundations for his return, both on and off the pitch”, adds Elkann. On 6 October 2023, Juventus communicated shareholder Exor’s support for the company’s capital increase. A commitment to subscribe to a 63.8% stake and to subscribe to future capital increases for a maximum of 127 million euros. On 21 December 2023, Juventus announced that Exor committed to underwriting any newly issued shares that remain canceled at the end of the offer period. But the capital increase was fully subscribed and therefore there was no need for further financing.
The decline in publishing
«2023 represented a difficult year for two of our smallest companies: GEDI and Juventus. Since Gruppo Espresso and ITEDI decided to merge in 2016 to create GEDI, newspapers have seen a steady decline in their share of the advertising market, which has now fallen below 5% (it was more than 8% in 2016 ). At the same time, advertising revenues collected by digital players have rapidly increased and are now estimated to represent more than 40% of the market. Circulation of all Italian newspapers has declined by more than 10% per year on average, particularly as a result of the COVID pandemic, with circulation now at 1 million copies, less than half the number in 2016. This combination of decrease in the advertising market share, combined with lower circulation and inflated costs, has strongly impacted the information business”, says Elkann.
