Pirelli investors approve earnings despite opposition from China's Sinochem

MILAN (Reuters) -Pirelli investors on Thursday approved the Italian tyremaker's earnings report for last year despite the opposition of its largest shareholder, the Chinese state-controlled group Sinochem, the company said.

The outcome of the vote suggests that Sinochem, whose influence over Pirelli has been restricted by the Italian government, no longer has effective control over the company.

Sinochem, which owns a 37% stake, has crossed swords with the company and its second largest shareholder Camfin, which claim that a large Chinese presence in Pirelli poses a threat to its ambitions to expand its business in the United States.

The Pirelli statement confirmed that Sinochem, through the MPI holding that it controls, had been the only shareholder to vote against the approval of the annual report for 2024.

MPI said in a separate statement that its vote against the report was "exclusively due to the disclosure on control." The holding said it had "no objection with respect to the figures of the 2024 Financial Report."

The shareholder meeting also approved the payment of 250 million euros to investors as a dividend, the equivalent of 0.25 euros per share.

U.S. CRACKDOWN ON CHINESE AUTO TECH

Washington is cracking down on Chinese technology in the automotive industry by banning key software and hardware from Chinese-controlled companies in connected vehicles on U.S. roads.

The Italian government is seeking clarity from the United States about possible restrictions on Pirelli's U.S. activities due to its Chinese investor, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

As part of the governance dispute, some Sinochem representatives on Pirelli's board, including Chairman Jiao Jian, earlier this year voted against the group's financial statement for 2024. 

Some Sinochem board members also voted against Pirelli's results for the first quarter of 2025.

The Italian government intervened two years ago to curb Sinochem's influence in Pirelli and to protect the autonomy of its management under so-called "golden power" legislation for companies deemed of strategic importance.

Camfin, which owns a 27.4% stake in Pirelli, is the vehicle of Executive Vice-Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, the Italian businessman who has been the company's top boss for more than three decades.

In a challenging context for the whole automotive industry, Pirelli last year posted above-target results, with a 2% revenue increase and a margin on adjusted operating profit rising to 15.7%.

(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, editing by Gavin Jones and Keith Weir)