Everyone has their own trophy. Vivendi closed on Thursday March 7 the publication of the results for the year 2023 of the multinationals making up the CAC 40 index, a vintage crowned with a swarm of records: profits for TotalEnergies, Veolia, Renault, Schneider and Stellantis; order book for Schneider or Thales; margins for Hermès, Renault or L’Oréal. Even if Kering deplores a “difficult year for the group”overall, the French champions shone.
In total, the 38 CAC 40 companies which have published their accounts in recent weeks – Alstom and Pernod-Ricard having a staggered financial year – have generated a record net profit: 153.6 billion euros compared to 142 billion in 2022, which itself marked a historic high, according to data compiled by the fintech Scalens.
“It took CAC 40 companies more than ten years after the 2008 financial crisis to cross the barrier of 100 billion euros per year. The Covid crisis allowed them to break this glass ceiling. And since then, they have managed to maintain high profit levels”, underlines Arnaud Girod, head of economic research and strategy at Kepler Cheuvreux. It is therefore not surprising if, on Thursday, in a context of soaring global stock markets, the CAC 40 index closed above 8,000 points, for the first time in its history.
Shareholders can rub their hands. The dividends allocated for 2023 – which will be distributed in 2024 – represent a cumulative 67.8 billion euros (compared to 67.5 billion in 2022). Above all, these coupons are complemented by 30.1 billion euros (24.6 billion in 2022) in share buybacks which are becoming popular in France despite political condemnations. In the fall, during discussions on the 2024 Finance bill, deputies ranging from Renaissance to LFI, via Modem and the PS, tabled amendments to tax dividends or share buybacks.
On the eve of the European elections
On March 22, 2023, during a television interview in the middle of the debate on pension reform, President Emmanuel Macron himself denounced the “cynicism at work” of these groups “who make such exceptional income that they end up using this money to buy back their own shares”promising the implementation of a tax so that “workers can benefit” of this money.
This drain having never seen the light of day, the records of 2023 should not fail to revive, in the middle of the European election campaign, the debate on a fair sharing of value. Especially since the number one in profits, a totem accustomed to controversies, TotalEnergies (19.3 billion euros), is closely followed by Stellantis in turbo mode (18.6 billion), led by the champion of relocation, Carlos Tavares, the highest paid boss in the CAC 40 who was allocated remuneration of 36.5 million euros for 2023.
You have 62.36% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.