Annual Report - Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations

Caisse des Dépôts Group
Last year, the engineering and services
subsidiaries consolidated under Caisse des
Dépôts développement (C3D) also completed
several acquisitions and entered into partnership
agreements, in particuliar in the areas of
healthcare facilities for the elderly (SCIC Médica
France), urban mass transit (Transdev) and
tourism (Compagnie des Alpes).
For our Group, the single most important event
of last year was the agreement signed in June
with Caisses d’Epargne designed to combine the
private market financial activities of both
groups. This agreement led to the creation
of EULIA, a financial institution with European
reach, backed by a diversified business and
client base (€ 10 billion in net banking income,
€ 17 billion in equity capital and 48,000
employees). The EULIA financial institution,
which was established toward the end of the
year, holds the alliance’s pooled equity interests
and represents the holding company for the
strategic management of its businesses.
The partnership agreements reached with Italy’s
Sanpaolo IMI and Germany’s Bayerische
Landesbank have already provided the alliance
between Caisse des Dépôts and Caisse
d’Epargne with a solid foundation upon which
to grow on a pan-European basis.
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Caisse des Dépôts Group 2001
Our vitality is also reflected by our continued
hiring of young employees and accelerated
adoption of new information technologies,
in particular related to Intranet. In addition,
we have shown a strong commitment
to harmonious labor relations, as demonstrated by
our establishment of a new Group Financial
Committee, a new employee savings plan and
agreements to reduce the work week.
Although our 2001 earnings did not benefit
from the same exceptionally robust capital gains
on equities as in 2000, the Group maintained
its net recurring income at a high level despite
the unfavorable market climate for its investment
banking businesses.
Our Group continues to evolve in order to meet
the challenges of the 21st century. Our goal is
to continue to improve the services we provide
to our clients and partners, and to be innovative,
efficient and socially responsible in the service
of our country.
Daniel Lebègue