(News Bulletin 247) – The Euronext scientific council made its decision this Thursday. The media and communications group returns to the CAC 40 while the payments specialists leave it.

The verdict is in. At the end of its meeting this Thursday, the scientific council of the stock market operator Euronext ruled on the composition of the Paris Stock Exchange indices, namely the CAC 40 and the SBF 120.

Vivendi is returning to the CAC 40, only six months after leaving it. Worldline comes out. The change will be effective at the opening of the session on Monday, December 18.

Vivendi was expelled from the CAC 40 on June 19 by the specialist in payment solutions in the world of work Edenred.

A sectoral logic?

Since then, the group whose reference shareholder is the company Bolloré SE has not really experienced a fantastic stock market rally. The price has only risen 4% and Vivendi shares have remained down 2.6% since January 1, far from the progression of the CAC 40 (+14.75%).

Other groups were more likely to join the flagship index of the Paris market, notably Accor (+46% over 2023) whose market capitalization is nevertheless higher than that of Vivendi (9 billion compared to 8 billion) with a higher free float , around 75%.

Matthias Desmarais, director of Oddo BHF’s equity activity, had mentioned in News Bulletin 247, shortly before the scientific council’s decision, the possibility that Eiffage or Vivendi would be included in the index.

Euronext’s scientific council was able to judge that Vivendi represented a sector that was not very present on the CAC 40, namely the media, and ultimately not so far from tech, that of Worldline.

The payments group was clearly threatened, even if Alstom was also often cited among the potential candidates for exit.

In October, Worldline lowered its annual objectives and set aside its medium-term targets while publishing growth below expectations. This constituted a serious setback for a market which had already shown its disenchantment, in recent years, with the payments sector.

The group’s shares lost nearly 59% in a single session, certainly an absolute record for a CAC 40 stock. And over the whole of 2023, the company will lose around 57%.

No change is to be reported on the SBF 120 side, however.