(News Bulletin 247) – The first part of the year ended on the stock market on Friday. The opportunity to see which SBF 120 companies have been the most successful in their journey so far. News Bulletin 247 takes stock with an infographic.

The first part of the year on the stock market is now over and it turned out to be very mixed for the French market, with a CAC 40 down 0.85% over the first six months of the year and an SBF 120, the second major index of the place, down 1.4%.

Which stocks are surviving? And on the contrary, which ones are suffering the most? News Bulletin 247 has taken stock by compiling the ten biggest increases and the ten biggest decreases since January 1st on the SBF 120.

The infographic below resonates quite well with the overall picture of a Parisian market that has particularly lost its breath towards the end of the semester. With one notable and particular exception, the increases remain relatively modest. Conversely, the biggest declines show a much higher amplitude, with investors clearly not wasting their time with stocks that require patience.

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Esso in the lead

Ultimately, the best performance of the year is signed by a group that arrived very recently (Monday in fact) on the SBF 120: Esso. Known for its advertisements with animals in the 90s, the specialist in refining and distribution of petroleum products shows an increase of almost 200%. The company’s low float of only 17%, Esso being an 83% subsidiary of Exxonmobil, probably tended to amplify the stock’s increase.

The increase in the share price mainly took place between March and June, and more precisely after March 20, the date of the group’s annual results. As the Agefi-Dow Jones agency points out, Esso then published a slightly lower profit for 2023 but higher than expectations. Above all, the company posted a balance sheet strengthened by two years (2022 and 2023) during which refining margins significantly increased before falling again. The fuel and fuel refining gross margin indicator published by the Directorate General for Energy and Climate (DGEC) stood at 101 euros per tonne in 2022 on average, then 71 euros per tonne in 2023, compared to 14 euros in 2021.

This allowed Esso to have a positive net cash position of more than one billion euros. And to distribute to its shareholders a dividend of 15 euros per share for 2023, including 12 euros of exceptional dividend.

Manganese carries Eramet

Behind Esso, second place is occupied by Alstom (+36.7%), the railway equipment manufacturer starting to regain the market’s good graces after disappointing on its cash generation. But the necessary strengthening of its financial balance sheet, including a capital increase of 1 billion euros, was well digested by investors and short sellers began to unwind their positions on the stock.

The mining and metallurgical group Eramet (third with +31.68%) has benefited in particular from a rise in manganese prices since March, due to a cyclone that damaged the shafts of a major mine in Australia. This led the local group Gemco (a subsidiary of South32) to suspend its operations for several months. “The impact is major on the market since Eramet and South32 are the two co-leaders in high-grade ore, each with a market share of 30%,” Oddo BHF explained in April.

Cable manufacturer Nexans (+29.8%) failed to reach the podium. The company had notably published a “solid” activity in the first quarter, according to the independent research office AlphaValue. According to the financial intermediary, Nexans benefits from a mega-trend, namely the electrification of the economy. The group also continued its external growth policy, with the acquisition of the Italian company La Triveneta, an operation that was well received by the market.

Having become the new darling of analysts thanks to now efficient financial results and promising vehicle launches, Renault gained 29.6% and is the first company in the CAC 40 in the ranking ahead of Safran (+23.8%). Note the presence of Neoen (+24.37%), sixth, which benefits from the announcement of a public purchase offer from the Canadian private equity company Brookfield.

Casino and Atos in the depths

On the downside, there aren’t many surprises. Casino, which rejoined the SBF 120 on Monday, suffered a fall of 95.5%. Obviously, this plunge can be explained by the mega-recapitalization and the heavy financial restructuring carried out to put the Saint-Etienne group back on its feet.

To clean up finances strangled by a net debt of more than 6.2 billion euros, tens of billions of shares were issued, which led to massive dilution of previous shareholders. In March, once this financial restructuring was completed, Casino’s share capital consisted of more than 37 billion shares. The company has since carried out a reverse stock split. The group was taken over by a consortium formed by businessmen Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière and the British investment fund Attestor.

The story of Atos (-86%) is not far from that of Casino. The digital services company is currently in urgent need of cash to ensure its survival in the relatively short term. While the exact identity of the future buyers is not yet known, the case having recorded new turmoil this week, the creditors will play a leading role. Above all, a heavy and mega-dilutive restructuring for its shareholders will occur in any case. The share is currently trading at around 1.12 euros. Invest Securities’ target price is set at… one cent.

Follows Euroapi (-55.5%), the former subsidiary of Sanofi specializing in active pharmaceutical ingredients which experienced a black streak this year. Due to weaker than expected orders from its former parent company, the company delivered very disappointing prospects at the start of the year. Its title was then penalized by the cessation of production at a site in Italy which led it to suspend its objectives. The company delivered new, lowered annual targets this week, with a pronounced decline in its sales and margins.

Note the presence of Forvia (-45.9%, fifth largest decline), in a very complicated context for automotive equipment manufacturers that risk suffering from Chinese competition and the slowdown in electrification, as Jefferies recently highlighted. The other equipment manufacturer Valeo has also lost 28.6% since the beginning but is not included in the infographic because it “only” has the 14th largest decline in the SBF 120.