Paris Orléans, the holding company for the Rothschild group, has two core businesses: banking activities and private equity investments.

In recent years, Paris Orléans has published its net asset value per share four times a year, in particular on publication of the interim and annual financial statements.

The net asset value is an estimate of the value of the company's equity calculated as the difference between the market value of the assets held and the company's liabilities.

In January 2008, Paris Orléans acquired full control of the holding company for the Rothschild group's banking activities. In keeping with market practice, Paris Orléans will from now on inform the market solely of the value of its private equity business broken down by type of activity and will no longer publish a global net asset value per share. As is the usual practice for listed companies in the sector, Paris Orléans will leave it to investors and analysts to assess the value of its banking activities based on the information it provides.

The company will continue to disclose the amount of its net financial debt - which corresponds to financial debt after deduction of cash held - along with that of its other liabilities twice a year on publication of the annual and interim consolidated financial statements.

New investments are valued at cost for the first 24 months following their acquisition unless some major event justifies a revaluation or recognition of impairment.

Securities of listed companies (including the treasury shares held) are valued at the last closing price of the month.

Investments in unlisted companies and investment funds in which Paris Orléans holds a minority stake are generally valued at the value provided by the majority shareholder.
Investments in mezzanine debt securities are valued at nominal value plus accrued interest; however, in excess of a certain level of risk, the mezzanine debt may be considered impaired and require a provision. A number of mezzanine debt investments are in the form of bonds with share subscription warrants attached. These warrants are analysed regularly to assess, based on the likelihood of exercise, their possible impact on the value of the investment.