Groupama plans stock market listing in five years

PARIS - France�s biggest mutual insurer, Groupama, plans to make its debut on the stock exchange in 2005 or 2006 with the aim of attracting funds for its development plans, particularly outside France. The group, which is France�s second biggest all-purpose insurance group, said that it would seek a listing via a corporate entity in which it would retain a majority stake. It indicated, however, that it had a number of objectives to achieve before it would be ready to present itself to the market. These included meeting its target of a return on equity of 8% in 2003, the launch of its new bank in co-operation with Societe Generale in the same year, introduction of a new groupwide IT system and the reorganisation of its existing regional society structure. Groupama is currently composed of 18 regional societies but plans to reduce these to nine via a series of mergers.