America's favourite French baker whips up a new mix to relaunch growth
Article Abstract:
When the French corporation Les Grands Moulins de Paris S.A. first entered U.S. markets in the 1970s, under the subsidiary name of Vie de France, it experienced explosive growth making and retailing croissants and baguettes. However, in the past two fiscal years Vie De France has witnessed a 42 percent decrease in U.S. profits. In fiscal 1985, Vie de France sales grew to $63 million, but profits were lower than in 1984 by $5.6 million. For fiscal 1986, the financial results were worse: sales declined to $62 million and profits were $3.2 million. Most of the market loss went to Sara Lee Corp. Vie de France is introducing new management techniques that emphasize cost control, instituting an entirely new level of management company-wide, beginning an active acquisition program of buying up smaller bakeries, opening cafe-style restaurants, beginning to concentrate more on wholesale operations, and expanding into such other foreign markets as Japan, Singapore, Korea, and China.
Publication Name: International Management
Subject: Business, international
ISSN: 0020-7888
Year: 1987
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Compagnie Bancaire emerges from the shadows
Article Abstract:
France's Compagnie Bancaire, which is registered as a bank, is actually a federation of separately quoted financial services companies in such specialized areas as mortgage credits, insurance, mutual funds, unit trusts, and retail finance. It is Europe's largest financial services company, and is 45 percent owned by Banque Paribas. Bancaire's chief executive since 1982, Andre Levy-Lang, was trained as a nuclear physicist and holds a doctorate in economics. Under Levy-Lang, Bancaire has adopted an advanced financial reporting system, introduced new product lines (including the Cetelem retail credit unit), and located foreign partners for joint ventures. In the face of competitive challenges such as free credit offered by car manufacturers and near-monopolization of domestic securities markets by stockbrokers, Levy-Lang has used political influence to help Bancaire keep its financial footing. Bancaire had $2.2 billion under management at the end of 1986.
Publication Name: International Management
Subject: Business, international
ISSN: 0020-7888
Year: 1987
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
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