After having (a lot) put it to use to contain the bills of households and industrialists, the State is preparing to help (a little) the Electricité de France group (EDF). The majority shareholder will participate, to the tune of 2.1 billion euros, in the recapitalization of 2.5 billion euros of the company. This is “a signal sent out to private investors to tell them that they can have confidence in EDF”, justified Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Friday February 18, hoping “a leverage effect of public investment on private investment”. State shares in the company should remain stable at around 84%.
This recapitalization – equivalent to some 9% compared to the company’s stock market valuation on the morning of Friday, February 18 – is supposed to help EDF face the current year. Because the coming months are going to be tough. Much more than for the results for the year 2021, communicated the same day: 84 billion euros in turnover, up 22.4% over one year. The recovery in economic activity, among other factors, more than doubled the group’s net profit (4.7 billion euros).
“In the crosshairs”
There remains a much heavier piece of data, the company’s debt: 43 billion euros in 2021, against 42.3 billion a year earlier. This debt should grow, in view of the projects announced on February 10 Emmanuel Macron: two months before the presidential election, the Head of State has promised between 6 and 14 new nuclear reactors by… 2050 , without detailing the financing.
A recapitalization of just over two billion euros, “it’s not a lot compared to the mass of investments and the problems facing EDF”, observes Jacques Percebois, professor emeritus at the University of Montpellier and director of the Center for Research in Energy Economics and Law. All this, always “in the crosshairs of the European Commission”, which tracks down any state aid likely, in its view, to distort competition. “Vis-à-vis the Commission, it may be easier for the company to justify a capital injection than a current account contribution”, judge however the economist.
The State had already carried out a recapitalization of 3 billion euros in 2017. Its new contribution comes shortly after the announcement of the takeover of the nuclear activities of General Electric (ex-Alstom) by EDF, which the government has largely encouraged. These same activities were sold in 2014 to the American conglomerate, when Mr. Macron was Minister of the Economy.
You have 60.21% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.