(BFM Bourse) – While the armed conflict in Ukraine risks causing a new spike in energy prices, many stocks in the sector are benefiting from it this Monday in Paris, both in renewables and nuclear. Defense or cybersecurity specialists are also sought after.
If the color chart is largely red on the Paris market charts on Monday, many stocks have escaped the purge linked to the economic consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Western economic sanctions in retaliation. Among these, several companies in the energy sector stand out clearly as the ongoing war on European soil raises fears of a violent spike in oil and gas prices in particular, markets in which Russia is a central player.
If several oil services companies have been wanted for weeks – and still today (+2% for Maurel and Prom, +1.6% for Vallourec – while the barrel of crude has crossed the 100 dollar mark several times in recent days, investors are increasingly turning to alternative solutions.
More and more numerous on the French coast, specialists in renewable energies are taking advantage of this. We obviously think in the first place of Neoen (+9.6% around 4 p.m.), the leading French producer of exclusively renewable energies, which builds and operates solar power plants and other wind farms. But also to other producers of electricity from renewable energies such as Voltalia (+10.6%) and Albioma (+5%).
Several hydrogen players are also taking advantage of the situation, whether it is the producer (by electrolysis) McPhy Energy (+12.5%) or the storage specialists, Hydrogène Refueling Solutions (+4%) and Enertime (+4 %) – unlike the biomass thermolysis hydrogen producer Haffner Energy (-3.6%), which was recently listed on Euronext.
The French LNG tanker equipment champion GTT (for Gaztransport & Technigaz) is also already benefiting from the current energy crisis, which will see several European countries reduce its dependence on Russian gas. Germany thus announced yesterday the construction of two LNG terminals in the north of the country.
The main players in the wood energy sector, Cogra (+5%) and E02 (+5.5%) are also on the rise.
The arms sector is the other “winner” from the current situation. In addition to the flagships Dassault Aviation (+7.5%) and Thales (+12%), the lesser known CS Group (formerly Communication & Systems) wins more than 15% around 4:30 p.m. Based in Plessis-Robinson, the latter notably designs military surveillance or control solutions, as well as secure information and communication systems.
The specialist in high-end hermetic boxes for aeronautics (combat planes, missile computers, infrared detectors, radars, equipment for armored vehicles, helicopters, drones, etc.) Egide takes off for its part by 19%. Finally, let’s mention Cybergun, now largely exposed to the military market via its subsidiary Arkania, which develops a wide range of replicas under official licenses designed for training the armed forces.
Note that Arkania is also present in the field of cybersecurity, where France has many heavyweights (Atos, Orange, Capgemini, etc.) but only one “pure player”, Wallix, whose title nibbles 1%.
Quentin Soubranne – ©2022 BFM Bourse