Pirelli shareholders fail to reach agreement

Pirelli reported that negotiations regarding the normalization of relations with the company's largest shareholder, the Chinese state-owned holding company Sinochem, "did not lead to any positive outcome". On May 14, the board of directors approved Pirelli's financial results for the first quarter of 2025, with nine out of 15 board members voting in favor, and the chairman Jiao Jian and four other members representing the Chinese side voting against. According to the company's statement, the board members voted against "exclusively due to the statement that Sinochem no longer has control over Pirelli". 

It was announced at the end of April that the Chinese investor with a 37% stake no longer controls Pirelli, after which Sinochem strongly opposed this decision of the board of directors. 

Earlier, Pirelli and the company's second-largest shareholder, the Italian Camfin, stated that Sinochem's presence in the list of investors hinders plans to expand the business in the US, where "some lawmakers are opposed to projects supported by Chinese companies". More than 20% of the company's turnover comes from North America.

On May 14, Pirelli stated that the "proposals addressed to Sinochem were essentially rejected". The company did not specify the nature of the proposals. 

As a result of the first quarter of 2025, Pirelli received revenue of 1.759 billion euros, which is 3.7% more compared to the same period in 2024. Net profit increased by 26.7% to 127.2 million euros. 

Pirelli confirmed its forecast for 2025, but noted that if the current US position on import duties is maintained, the adjusted EBIT profit is expected to be at the lower end of the forecast.