The subject of dividends is flammable between big business and the executive. A week ago, the first, represented by Afep, had joined the government's decision to prohibit any payment of dividends by companies requesting public cash aid (deferral of charges or benefit of the guarantee credits). Afep had added a cut in employers' wages and a 20% reduction in dividends paid by companies that use short-time working.
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Insufficient effort in the eyes of the executive. All week, the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire called the leaders of the CAC 40 to let them know. Sunday, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche , he hit the nail on the head: " I call on them to reduce by at least a third the payment of dividends in 2020 ", he declared for the companies still not concerned.
The equivalent of 15 billion canceled
A bad call. Afep " takes note ". But the association also recalls its attachment to the “principle of free determination of the dividend” by companies. The CAC 40 as a whole, which was to pay 50 billion euros in dividends for 2019, has already canceled the equivalent of 15 billion because of the crisis and postponed decisions for 14 billion. The threshold of a third is therefore generally already reached. A source close to the matter warns of the danger of weakening groups in the Paris market in the face of their European competitors who, apart from banks, are not subject to the same constraints.
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Between companies and the executive, the relationship is strained. On the one hand, the many solidarity initiatives taken by Afep and Medef members are welcomed. On the other hand, the CAC 40 feels the political pressure increasing every day a little more. According to concordant sources, the subject of employers' remuneration will probably be the next reason for tense exchanges.