Are these merely demagogues disconnected from reality, or is this a genuine issue that civil society should rightfully address? Given its exceptional profits that Total is poised to generate with crude prices above $100, the question warrants examination, at least from a purely economic and financial viewpoint.
Consider the remarks made by Mathilde Panot, a Member of Parliament for La France Insoumise. To our surprise, she hits the nail on the head when she points out that TotalEnergies has distributed €100bn to its shareholders over the past decade.
Indeed, between 2016 and 2025, the French energy group paid out €68bn in dividends and, net of share issues, returned €32bn to its shareholders through share buybacks, thereby withdrawing 8% of its outstanding shares.
As a side note, it is worth mentioning that TotalEnergies is currently valued (enterprise value, i.e., market capitalization plus net debt) at a round figure of €200bn. In other words, ceteris paribus, at a price representing two decades of capital distributions to shareholders.
Returning to the famous €100bn distributed over the last decade, let us consider the other side of the equation: what have Total's shareholders had to commit to receive such a reward? For it is only in relation to this calculation that one can determine whether or not TotalEnergies is generating "outrageous" profits.
Again looking at the last decade, what do we see? Total invested €134bn in capex and €6bn in acquisitions, both net of asset disposals, totaling another round figure of €140bn. Investing 140 to withdraw 100: from this angle, the business indeed appears lucrative.
One must concede that, given the inherent difficulties in managing a company of this scale - where extreme technological and geopolitical stakes converge with the natural cyclicity of a commodity industry - this financial performance is a credit to the management of the group led by Patrick Pouyanné. It remains a true French flagship of innovation and industry and, lest we forget, the only global major with no reserves on its home soil.
Kudos to the management. That being said, it should also be noted that this shortcut is too simplistic to accurately assess TotalEnergies' true profitability, as the group is engaged in long-cycle activities where returns on investment are evaluated over horizons far exceeding just 10-year periods. An eternity in financial markets or political arenas, but a mere blink of an eye for an energy giant...
Regarding the idea of nationalization floated by Ms. Panot and her affiliates, let us acknowledge that she is touching upon an interesting subject. While the project of transforming TotalEnergies into a Petrobras or a Pemex would amount to outright industrial suicide, one can only regret that the French State, and by extension the interests of the taxpayer, is not present in Total's capital structure.
In theory, it is not irrational to imagine a balanced capital partnership, so that the community fully benefits from the best of national industrial genius, somewhat on the model of Equinor in Norway. However, amongst other calamities, the EDF precedent tends to prove that the French old Jacobin State, when it tries its hand at shareholder capitalism, has a tendency to score own goals...
