The profits of CAC 40 companies resisted fears of recession in 2023 and already exceed those of 2022, according to an AFP count which shows the great shape of luxury and automobiles (AFP / ERIC PIERMONT)
The profits of CAC 40 companies resisted fears of recession in 2023 and already exceed those of 2022, according to an AFP count which shows the great shape of luxury and automobiles.
In 2023, the 35 companies in the flagship index of the Paris Stock Exchange having revealed their accounts made a total of 144.2 billion euros in net profits (group share), compared to nearly 142 billion for the CAC in its together in 2022.
In 2022, these same 35 companies had collectively generated 141 billion euros.
The balance sheet should, however, remain below the record year 2021, according to the profits expected by analysts for companies that have not yet published their results.
“We have experienced three fairly abnormal years economically” but 2023 has cushioned a return “to normal”, summarizes Samy Chaar, chief economist at Lombard Odier.
And with this, a “slump in turnover” and margins, but without “very strong contraction” and still “at very high levels”, summarizes Emmanuel Cau, head of Barclays’ equity strategy, to AFP.
While the economy has faltered, profits are “less worse than expected”, he adds.
For Mr. Chaar, this good performance proves that “the fundamentals of the private sector have returned to these three years with a certain solidity”.
The cumulative turnover of the CAC 40 reaches almost 1,678 billion euros, compared to almost 1,721 in 2022.
– No record –
This is the third year in a row where CAC 40 companies together have made more than 100 billion euros in profits.
After a less favorable year 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic (34 billion euros in profits), the cumulative profit had exceeded this threshold for the first time in 2021.
Graph showing the 2023 group share net results of 35 CAC 40 companies published as of February 29, 2024 (AFP /)
The 2023 balance sheet should remain below the 2021 record, when Vivendi’s exceptional profit of nearly 25 billion euros, boosted by the sale of Universal Music, pushed the sum to nearly 157 billion.
Thales, Vivendi and Teleperformance, which have not yet published their annual results, had made some 760 million euros in profits in 2022. Analysts surveyed by the financial data provider Factset expect 2.5 billion for 2023, with a return to the green for Vivendi.
The count is based, for 2022 and 2023, on the new composition of the stock market index, after the exit of the payments provider Worldline and the entry of Edenred.
The amounts do not take into account the two groups Pernod Ricard and Alstom, which have staggered financial years that do not correspond to calendar years.
– Banks, energy, automobile –
TotalEnergies makes the biggest profit. Although it has increased slightly in dollars, at 21.4 billion, it remains almost stable in euros: 19.8 billion euros compared to 19.5 billion in 2022, using the official average prices for the years 2022 for conversion. and 2023.
The luxury sector continued to shine, despite a slowdown in the market: between them, Hermès, Kering, L’Oréal and LVMH combined profits of nearly 29 billion euros, up 7%, despite a decline of 17 % at Kering.
On the banking side, for which the rise in rates is favorable, profits increased by 17% to nearly 20 billion euros for BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale.
Automotive also swells the account: Renault made a profit of 2.2 billion euros after a loss of 350 million in 2022. And Stellantis posted a record profit of 18.6 billion euros – the second largest index result.
For 2024, companies “remain rather optimistic”, notes Mr. Cau – enough to help the CAC 40 stock index break records in recent days.
But the risks are multiplying – interest rates, growth in China, geopolitics… – especially since the balance sheet of the CAC 40 depends little on French growth but above all on the global economic health of the United States and Asia, recalls Mr. Chaar.
And above all, with a drop in inflation (which has supported the results) comes the risk, according to Mr. Cau, of a “backlash”.