(BFM Bourse) – Eramet and Maurel & Prom sign sharp increases after delivering reassuring points on the situation in the country, where a coup took place.
After yielding to caution, the market somewhat relativizes the political risk in Gabon. This country was the object, Wednesday, of a coup d’etat by soldiers wishing to put an end to the presidency of the Bongo family, following disputed elections.
The head of the Republican Guard, General Brice Oligui Nguema, was placed at the head of the country by the putschists, within the framework of a transition regime whose duration has not been specified. According to several media, the night from Wednesday to Thursday in the country was calm.
The values very exposed to Gabon, after having fallen sharply on Wednesday, are recovering this Thursday on the Paris Stock Exchange.
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Eramet resumes manganese ore mining
Eramet wins 10.4% around 4 p.m., an increase that follows the 16.5% decline the day before. The mining group, which via its subsidiary Comilog operates a major manganese ore extraction site in the country (16% of world production, according to Stifel), published a press release on Wednesday evening to take stock of the situation.
The company headed by Christel Bories has decided to resume rail transport on Wednesday as well as, from this Thursday, mining activities.
“In total, production at the Moanda mine will have been shut down for 24 hours and rail transport for 18 hours,” Eramet said in a statement. The group employs more than 8,700 people in Gabon, including subcontractors.
“The announcement by Eramet of the resumption of production in its mine after only 24 hours is excellent news, in our opinion”, appreciates Stifel. According to the bank, Eramet’s assets in Gabon generated 27% of the company’s consolidated revenues in 2022 and represent on average more than 40% of its annual Ebitda (gross operating result).
Maurel & Prom not affected
For its part, the oil company Maurel & Prom resumed 6.3% after plunging 14.8% on Wednesday. Gabon is the company’s largest hydrocarbon production country (more than half in the first half) and the company will strengthen its position there.
It had thus announced in mid-August the acquisition of the Gabonese group Assala Energy Holdings for a consideration of 730 million dollars. An external growth operation which should enable it to double its production in Gabon.
In a press release also published on Wednesday evening, Maurel & Prom confirmed that neither its operations nor the safety of its employees were affected by the situation, with therefore no impact on production.
Important point: the company also declared that the process of taking over Assala, which notably requires the green light from the Gabonese Republic, “is continuing”. “For information, Assala Energy’s activities and production are also not affected by recent events,” the company added.
For its part, Total Gabon, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies in the country, gained 6.8% after losing 14.5% on Wednesday.
A different coup in Mali and Niger
In its note, Stifel relativizes the risks linked to the coup d’etat in Gabon. “While the recent coups in Mali and Niger may have inspired the putschists, we believe that the reasons and implications of this reversal of power have nothing to do with the countries of the Sahel”, underlines the office of studies.
“For the military, it’s about putting an end to the power of the Bongo family, in power for 56 years (42 years for father Omar Bongo and 14 years for his son Ali Bongo)”, he continues. Stifel points out that the military refrained from criticizing France and other international partners, contrary to what happened in Niger.
The bank judges that if the coup d’etat has created uncertainty, it is “extremely unlikely” that a nationalization / expropriation of the assets of the Eramet mines will occur. She notes that the soldiers have declared that they want to respect Gabon’s commitments, whether at the national level or with the international community.
“The putschists do not want, and cannot, leave the international legal framework”, concludes Stifel.
Julien Marion – ©2023 BFM Bourse
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