At its meeting held on June 29, 2006, the AREVA Supervisory Board adopted the group's strategic guidelines and appointed the members of the Executive Board for the next five years.
The Supervisory Board has every confidence in the AREVA group's current situation and perspectives, and has set a number of objectives for 2006-2011. These objectives constitute the roadmap for the Executive Board, responsible for managing the company over this period.
The Supervisory Board emphasized:
- Its commitment to giving top priority to the exemplary operation of its industrial activities, whether making its facilities safe for both AREVA employees and the environment, ensuring that all its sites comply with the regulations in force or continuing to prepare to meet its end-of-cycle obligations.
- Its decision to focus the group's development on AREVA's current businesses: provide customers with technological solutions for CO2-free power generation and reliable electricity distribution. The group's strategy should be to take maximum advantage of the sustainable upswing in these markets, using its vertical integration to the full. The construction of the new Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant, confirmed today by the Supervisory Board, bears witness to this ambition. On the other hand, looking for new businesses is not a priority for AREVA.
- The need to continue improving the group's economic and financial performance, as regards both the operating profitability of the various businesses and the group's financial strength. This objective will be even more important in the years ahead as AREVA makes the investments needed for it to maintain its position as leader in all its businesses and in view of its major industrial projects that require rigorous operational control, the majority shareholders having excluded any increase in capital in the short or medium term.
To carry out this strategy, the Supervisory Board decided, at the end of the mandate of the current Executive Board, to appoint the following as Members of the Executive Board for a period of five years:
- Ms. Anne Lauvergeon,
- Mr. Gérald Arbola,
- Mr. Didier Benedetti,
- Mr. Vincent Maurel.
The Executive Board confirmed its full agreement to implement the roadmap set out by the Supervisory Board.
The Supervisory Board appointed Anne Lauvergeon as Chairman of the Executive Board.
On the proposal of Ms. Lauvergeon, the Board also appointed Gérald Arbola as Senior Executive Vice President.
Vincent Maurel, President and CEO of AREVA NP, will also oversee issues relating to group information systems and Didier Benedetti, Chief Operating Officer of AREVA NC, issues relating to research policy.
Philippe Guillemot, a member of AREVA's Executive Committee, continues as Chairman and CEO of AREVA T&D.
Frédéric Lemoine, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, paid tribute to "the ground covered by AREVA since its creation in 2001" and highlighted "the wonderful opportunities opening up to AREVA in the second stage of its development." He ended by saying: "I am convinced that this AREVA management team has all the skills needed to implement the strategy and operational policies adopted for the group, within the scope that has been clearly defined by the Supervisory Board."
Contact:
Catherine Prévot
T: 33 1 44 83 24 81
catherine.prevot@areva.com