(News Bulletin 247) – Employee shareholding in the 120 main French listed companies remains at a high level. According to Eres’ annual barometer, 43 collective shareholding plans were offered to employees last year, for a total subscribed amount of 4.71 billion euros, a record.

In France, employee shareholding is increasingly popular. And in particular in the largest listed groups in the country which have understood that employee shareholding is an effective lever for loyalty, motivation and integration of a company’s employees.

Last month, for example, Capgemini launched its twelfth employee share ownership plan. Through this initiative, the IT services group intends to maintain the level of employee shareholding at around 8% of its capital.

Other companies are also active in this area such as Renault, which organized its fourth employee share ownership plan campaign last spring. The latter has allowed its employees to hold 6.31% of the capital since July. Renault hopes to emulate and thus achieve the objective of 10% employee shareholders by 2030.

More than a third of SBF employees 120 shareholders

Like Renault employees whose participation in plans has been continuously increasing since 2023, employees of the main French companies listed on the stock exchange still believe in the prospects of their group.

More than a third of employees in the SBF 120 (a stock market index including CAC 40 companies as well as 80 other companies, which collectively represent more than 80% of the capitalization of the Parisian market), are shareholders in their company, reveals the Panorama of Employee Shareholding carried out every year since 2006 by the Eres firm.

In 2024, 43 collective operations were therefore offered to employees of 37 SBF 120 companies, either in the form of capital increases reserved for employees or share transfers. Between 2014 and 2024, more than 385 operations, representing more than 35 billion euros in capital increases, were carried out over the period.

“Employee shareholding proves its effectiveness. Employees participate all the more willingly in this type of operation as they benefit from privileged prices with an average discount of 19.3%. 27 companies (75%) proposed a discount rate of at least 20% and 9 even proposed a rate of 30% (legal maximum rate)”, notes the study.

Some initiated their first employee shareholding operation last year, namely the software publisher for professionals Planisware, listed on the stock exchange since April 2024, and more surprisingly, the luxury giant LVMH.

Construction at the forefront

Eres reports that employee shareholding is an integral part of the corporate culture in construction, with a participation rate of 11.3% compared to only 3% for the index average. Among these companies, the firm cites Bouygues with 22% of the capital held by its employees as of December 31, 2024, followed by Eiffage (21%) and Vinci (11%).

In 2024, companies in the construction sector carried out six operations for a total amount of 1.15 billion euros, or around 25% of the total volume of all operations.

“Companies in the sector are among the most advanced, both in terms of the frequency of operations and the scale of the amounts raised. This is perfectly illustrated in 2024 by the largest collective plan, 685 million euros, which was carried out by a company in this sector,” analyzes Mathieu Chauvin, President of Eres.

32,000 euros per employee

Above all, the total amounts subscribed remained on the rise last year, exceeding the records set in 2023. They increased by 5.4% over the year, going from 4.4 billion euros in 2023 to 4.71 billion euros in 2024, a new historic record. This amount has even doubled in ten years, reports Eres.

“In the SBF 120, an employee shareholder holds on average nearly 32,000 euros, or the price of a new sedan-type vehicle or a year and a half of salary at the minimum wage,” comments Mathieu Chauvin, President of Eres.

On average, employees invested 5,943 euros per person (including contribution) in the capital of their own company during employee shareholding operations which took place last year. This is 9% more than the 5,369 euros invested per employee in 2023.

Eres notes that France remains in 2024 the champion of listed employee shareholding in Europe, with performances that encourage employees to invest. Employees who subscribed to an employee shareholding operation, carried out by SBF 120 companies between 2006 and 2019, were winners in 82% of cases with the dividend and the discount (without taking into account the contribution) and this rate rises to 92% with a total contribution, explains Eres.

A mechanism that is gradually becoming more widespread in SMEs

Above all, companies have everything to gain by involving their employees in their capital. The firm emphasizes the importance for them of involving their employees in the life of their company. In companies that have implemented an employee shareholding plan, the number of voluntary departures between 2019 and 2024 is almost half that of companies with a very weak employee shareholding culture: 8.1% compared to 12.1%.

If employee shareholding is widespread in large companies, this system is slowly infusing into smaller companies. The percentage of unlisted French small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using employee shareholding remains at 9%, a stable figure compared to the last edition of this study carried out in 2021, according to a previous Eres survey, carried out with OpinionWay.

For almost a quarter (23%) of SMEs having implemented it, employee shareholding is now part of their corporate culture, compared to 8% in 2021. And 7 out of 10 companies see benefits in terms of motivation, involvement and loyalty of employees and more than 9 out of 10 (97%) say they are ready to make the choice of employee shareholding again.

“Unlisted companies which have already chosen employee shareholding are increasingly offering their employees operations allowing them to take part in the capital, and are becoming the best ambassadors of the system. A trend which attests to its real benefits, regardless of the size of the company or its turnover,” notes Matthieu Chauvin.