FAQ

The initials SEB stand for Société d’Emboutissage de Bourgogne (Burgundy Stamping Company).  This type of stamping is a special kind of industrial process developed by the company to produce the “Super cocotte” pressure cooker at the beginning of the 1950s.

The only member of the founding family to be involved in the management of the Group today is the Chairman and CEO, Thierry de La Tour d’Artaise.

At present, we have 6 global brands or brands that are intended to be global: All-Clad, Krups, Lagostina, Moulinex, Rowenta and Tefal. These brands are the spearhead of our international approach. At the same time, we have 17 brands with a national/regional dimension, which are leaders in their markets and have a very strong image. These brands ensure our leading position in many countries. The addition of these local leaderships makes up the foundation of our global leadership.

Moreover, in the highly segmented market for small domestic equipment, this portfolio of unique brands constitutes a major competitive advantage because it allows us to cover all the market segments, from entry-level to high-end products. We have a clear policy of capitalizing on this crucial strategic advantage. We will no doubt need to carry out some adjustments here and there in order to optimise our approach still further, but we do not envisage any significant structural changes.

In 2010, the Group’s first customer on a global level was Metro. It represented a little over 5% of our consolidated sales.

At the end of June 2011, Groupe SEB had 1,267 proprietary stores, including 897 in China (Supor Lifestores) and around 160 Tefal Shops in Turkey. Most of the other shops are under the Home & Cook label. These points of sale are designed to ensure the presence of the Group in those geographical areas where modern – or even traditional – distribution is not well established or not established at all. In this respect, they are an excellent addition to the Group’s usual sales channels.

The Continental General Management structure, managed by Group Executive Committee member F. Verwaerde, is in charge of proprietary stores.

E-commerce still only represents a small part of the Group’s sales (less than 5%), but it has been growing fast for the past 2 to 3 years, especially in countries such as France, England and Germany. These sales take place mostly through our retailer’s websites, as well as through the sites of “pure players” such as Amazon and C-Discount. In 2010, on a global level, Amazon became Groupe SEB's 14th largest client, whilst the previous year it had not even made the top 20. This development is inevitable and will intensify in the coming years, with strong growth expected in countries such as Brazil and China. In this context, we are vigilant and we now have a dedicated Department, which ensures that this new type of distribution works well and that nothing goes off course.

Following our potential rise in Supor’s share capital, the structure of Supor shareholding would be as follows (rounded figures):

• Groupe SEB  71%
• SU family  12.5%
• Float   16.5%

Our objective is to maintain Supor listed on the stock exchange.

CAC Mid 60, SBF 120, CAC Mid & Small, as well as CAC All-Tradable and CAC All-Share.

SEB shares were first listed on the Paris Stock Exchange in May 1975.

Float represents a little over 44% of the capital of SEB SA.

It is of course true that the Group has never appealed to the market to finance its growth and that the acquisitions it has made have always been internally financed, whilst never endangering the Group's financial balance. However, in the global market for small domestic equipment which will continue to consolidate, a listing on the stock exchange provides us with a wider scope of financing sources in case of acquisition (possible appeal to the market, easier exchange of shares etc.).

Our policy aims at fair remuneration of shareholders and consists in increasing reasonably dividend when results allow it and stabilising dividend when circumstances demand it. In certain specific cases, such as in 2010, which was a year defined by exceptional results, the increase can be extended to reward an "outstanding” performance. In the past we have also granted free shares on a very ad hoc basis.

Groupe SEB is among the companies concerned by this new regulation and will have to pay, in some form or another, this bonus to French employees.

However, we would like to stress that the profit-sharing principle has been part of Group’s culture for a very long time now.  The Group was one of the very first in France to introduce discretionary and non-discretionary profit-sharing and contracts dating back to 1961 and 1968 respectively.  As a reminder, in 2010 the Group paid €50 million into such schemes (the same amount as was paid out in dividends), which for some employees represented the equivalent of four months’ salary.

No. Group’s dividend policy is part of a long-term policy and will not be modified due to this bonus being set up.