The forty companies of the CAC 40, the main French stock market index, distributed the record amount of 80.1 billion euros to their shareholders in 2022, in dividends or share buybacks, according to the financial letter Vernimmen.net.
“In 2022, according to our compilations, CAC 40 companies returned 80.1 billion euros to their shareholders, including 23.7 billion euros in the form of share buybacks, the highest level never recorded since we did this study” (2003), pointed out the specialist newsletter.
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Dividends paid reached 56.5 billion euros, compared to 45.6 billion in 2021 and 28.6 billion in 2020, during the pandemic.
“These figures, which are excellent, are only in unison with other equally excellent figures recorded in 2022, despite a complicated economic and geostrategic context”underlines Vernimmen.net, citing in particular an unemployment rate at its lowest, business creations at their highest historical level or fundraising at an unprecedented level by start-ups.
CAC 40 leaders paid 100 times more than employees in 2021, a record
TotalEnergies redistributes 13.3 billion euros
The first three groups redistributing equity to their shareholders represented 31% of the volume, according to the same source: TotalEnergies (13.3 billion euros in share buybacks or dividends), LVMH (7.1 billion) and Sanofi (4.7 billion).
The 50% mark is crossed by adding four other groups to this top three, BNP Paribas, Stellantis, AXA and Crédit Agricole.
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