TotalEnergies made one of the biggest profits ever made by a French company in 2022. GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS
NARRATIVE – The French group posted record profits of $20.5 billion in 2022. “I would prefer that TotalEnergies earn 10 billion less and everyone be a little more reasonable on this subject »asserts to Figaro its CEO Patrick Pouyanné.
The figures are gargantuan: 36.2 billion dollars in profits before depreciation of Russian assets, and even more than 20.5 billion after. A monstrous cash flow: 47.4 billion over the year, in other words 129 million dollars per day. A Saudi oil drilling rate. “None of us ever envisioned that the company could have such results”, admits CEO Patrick Pouyanné. TotalEnergies generated in 2022 one of the largest profits ever made by a French company (Vivendi had posted 24.7 billion in 2021 thanks to the IPO of Universal). His boss, questioned by the Figaroyet lets go: “I would prefer TotalEnergies to earn 10 billion less and everyone to be a little more reasonable on this subject”. A provocation? It is not the goal. Anyway, everything is provocative at TotalEnergies: the profits, the product, the boss.
The concomitance of the energy crisis and an election year…
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