Swatch Group, which controls 16 watches, including traditional Omega, Longines and Tissot, has been going through turbulence. The shares accumulate 24% devaluation in the last 12 months and a fall of over 75% in the last decade, from a peak of nearly 600 Swiss francs in 2014 to 147.85 Swiss francs today.
In addition, the company saw its profit fall 74% in 2024 to 219 million Swiss francs. Today the conglomerate is worth 7.7 billion Swiss francs.
Among the reasons for the crisis is the increasing demand for analog Swiss clocks. However, one of the elements can be more internal: more specifically, family errors that control the business.
According to a report by Financial TimesAlthough, amid the slowdown in luxury spending, many believe that swatch’s problems are management.
The signs are not today. Nick Hayek, Swatch Group CEO and the company’s founder’s founder, Nicolas Hayek, said last year that if investors did not like company management, they could invest elsewhere, causing great discontent.
Hayek has been CEO of the group since 2003, while the conglomerate’s board of directors has been chaired by his sister Nayla since 2010. The Hayek family has controlled 44% of the group’s voting rights.
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This is the backdrop of a board of directors of the company’s board scheduled for next Wednesday (21). This is because some investors, including Steven Wood, founder of Greenwood Investors, which has only 0.5% of Swatch shares, has pressed the group for change.
Wood seeks a chair at the group’s board of directors – and he will exert strong pressure on the expected meeting for the next few days.
