In his eco editorial of the day, Nicolas Barré analyzes the State's request to companies: not to pay dividends this year if they benefit from public aid. For him, the subject is more complex than it seems and represents a risk for the value of these companies.
It is a subject of tension between Bercy and the companies: the State asks them not to pay dividends if they benefit from public aid.
For Bruno Le Maire, things are simple: the companies which will benefit this year from deferrals of charges or taxes or from a State guarantee on their loans will not be able to pay dividends. It is a question of justice, according to the Minister of Economy. But in reality, the subject is more complex than it seems.
First Bruno Le Maire himself often insists that it is strategic to have French shareholders to control the capital of our companies. But for that, they must find an interest in it, that is the very meaning of the dividend. Then because the shareholders have just suffered a stock market crash: the crisis has already cost them dearly. Finally, let's not forget that a lot of SME bosses pay themselves in dividends and not in salaries, it is hard to see how they could be deprived of them…
This subject also divides large companies ...
Yes, because on the one hand, they are sensitive to their social role, to their "raison d'être" as they say, and sensitive to the fact that paying dividends during this period could be misunderstood. But at the same time, suppressing the return on capital has an obvious and unwelcome consequence: it melts the value of listed companies, making them more easily prey. If the suspension of dividends should result in more takeovers at a time when we seek to strengthen our economic sovereignty, we would have gained nothing: attention, slippery topic ...