TheChek News Flow

Selon nos informations, l’Etat, actionnaire majoritaire du groupe aéroportuaire, ne souhaite pas accorder à l’actuel PDG un nouveau mandat complet. Le dirigeant pourrait néanmoins rester jusqu’à la fin des Jeux olympiques.

C’est une surprise. Selon nos informations, Augustin de Romanet, le PDG de Groupe ADP (ex-Aéroports de Paris), ne sera pas renouvelé pour un mandat de cinq ans, contrairement à ce qu’il espérait. A la tête de l’entreprise publique depuis le 29 novembre 2012, le dirigeant avait fait savoir qu’il sollicitait un troisième tour de piste et, jusqu’à présent, rien ne semblait indiquer que cette candidature ne serait pas acceptée.

Alors que les statuts d’ADP imposent une limite d’âge à 65 ans, M. de Romanet approche des 63 ans. Son renouvellement pour cinq ans impliquait de desserrer cette contrainte. Est-ce la raison pour laquelle l’Etat − qui détient 50,6 % du capital d’ADP − a décidé de ne pas choisir cette voie ? M. de Romanet pourrait, toutefois, jouer les prolongations en assurant son propre intérim jusqu’à la fin des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques (JOP) de Paris.

Le grand événement sportif représente, en effet, un défi logistique majeur pour les aéroports parisiens, qui vont devoir acheminer et surtout rapatrier sur des délais très courts visiteurs, délégations et quelque 10 000 athlètes pourvus, pour certains, de bagages hors normes, avec un risque élevé de perturbations sociales. M. de Romanet a fait valoir que changer le patron à la veille des JOP pourrait déstabiliser le groupe.

L’hypothèse d’une reconduction pour deux ans de l’ancien directeur général de la Caisse des dépôts et consignations est également étudiée, mais semble peu probable pour l’heure. En 2012, l’énarque avait d’ailleurs pris la suite de Pierre Graff en cours de mandat, son prédécesseur ayant été contraint de quitter son poste le jour de ses 65 ans après avoir échoué à convaincre les pouvoirs publics de repousser la limite d’âge à 70 ans.

Rien ne peut se faire sans l’assentiment de l’Etat

En coulisse, les discussions allaient bon train ces derniers jours, alors que le conseil d’administration du 20 mars doit engager le compte à rebours en vue de l’assemblée générale du 21 mai. Formellement, pour pouvoir être prolongé, M. de Romanet doit voir son mandat d’administrateur proposé pour une reconduction lors de ce conseil. Les administrateurs soumettent des noms, mais c’est bien l’assemblée générale qui vote. Rien ne peut donc se faire sans l’assentiment de l’Etat – autrement dit, de Matignon et de l’Elysée : Bercy s’est « déporté » du dossier ADP depuis l’été 2023, M. de Romanet ayant épousé Sibylle Le Maire, la sœur de Bruno Le Maire, le ministre de l’économie et des finances.

Si M. de Romanet avait fait preuve de peu d’enthousiasme lorsque le projet d’une privatisation d’ADP avait été lancé lors du premier quinquennat d’Emmanuel Macron, difficile de dire si les pouvoirs publics lui en ont tenu rigueur. Cette opération, qui avait suscité une forte opposition politique en 2019, a été opportunément abandonnée pendant la crise du Covid-19, et jamais relancée depuis, compte tenu des enjeux de souveraineté liés aux aéroports mis en évidence par la pandémie.

Avec 336 millions de passagers transportés en 2023, ADP est le deuxième groupe aéroportuaire mondial, derrière l’espagnol Aena et devant le français Vinci (qui détient 8 % du capital de son grand concurrent). Alors que Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle peine à retrouver son trafic d’avant le Covid-19, la croissance du groupe est tirée par les aéroports du turc TAV (Antalya, Ankara…), dont ADP détient 46 % du capital, et de l’indien GMR (Delhi, Hyderabad…) détenu à 49 % par le Français. En 2023, Delhi était l’aéroport d’ADP ayant accueilli le plus grand nombre de passagers (72,2 millions), devant Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle (67,4 millions).

Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

Other news:

Analyst comments:

Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:

Other news:

Analyst comments:

The city’s officials say domestic legislation covering state secrets and foreign interference is necessary and won’t affect normal businesses

HONG KONG—Hong Kong lawmakers passed a bill that includes heavy punishments for foreign interference endangering national security and criminalizes the possession or disclosure of state secrets, measures that some foreign executives say could make the city less attractive for international business.

The city’s legislature, overhauled by Beijing in recent years to shut out opposition, passed the new law which outlines offenses such as espionage and treason, and widens the meaning of national security to include economic matters. The law, known as Article 23, also expands the range of material considered state secrets, such as those concerning social and technological developments.

The definitions bring Hong Kong more in line with mainland China, where a crackdown on business due-diligence firms has unnerved some foreign companies. It supplements a national-security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 in the wake of mass antigovernment protests.

The new law has drawn strong criticism from Western governments who say it risks further undermining freedoms in the city, and a group of U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week saying it raised the risks for American citizens and businesses.

On the ground, foreign business groups and corporate lawyers are more measured, but some say they are concerned that some parts of the bill are so vaguely worded they raise the perception of risk-and-compliance costs for businesses.

“Part of the unique value Hong Kong has for Western stakeholders is the openness of the city and we feel the balance between openness and the desire for security needs to be well calibrated,” said Johannes Hack, head of the German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee said earlier this month that he had asked the legislature to scrutinize and pass the bill at full speed, so that the city “can then focus its efforts on developing the economy.” A spokesman for Hong Kong’s government said that the bill “targets an extremely small minority of people who endanger national security” and that normal business operators won’t be affected by the legislation.

Confidence in Hong Kong among foreign businesses and executives has been shaken in recent years amid social unrest, strict pandemic rules, China’s sputtering economy and a national-security crackdown. A range of multinational companies have left, moved regional executives or downsized their operations in Hong Kong, including a number of firms that gather business intelligence.

The number of regional headquarters of firms based outside Hong Kong continued to fall in 2023, including those from the U.S., U.K. and Switzerland, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department.

Several foreign business leaders in Hong Kong say that while they don’t see a second national-security law as a reason to rethink their presence in the city, it reinforces existing concerns about the city’s appeal as a global financial center and hinders attracting global talent.

New class action pursues mining group and project partner BHP over one of Brazil’s worst environmental disasters

Vale faces a £3bn lawsuit in the Netherlands from 77,000 claimants over the 2015 Mariana dam collapse in Brazil, opening a new front in legal action against the mining group and its project partner BHP over one of the country’s worst environmental disasters.

A huge class action representing 700,000 claimants is already being pursued in the UK against BHP after the rupture of the Fundão mining waste dam near Mariana, south-east Brazil, killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of kilometres of waterways.

The Dutch case is being brought by law firms Pogust Goodhead and Lemstra Van der Korst against Vale Holdings BV, the main holding company of the Brazilian miner, and Samarco Iron Ore Europe, a marketing arm of the Samarco joint venture between Vale and BHP that operated the dam.

Pogust Goodhead, which is also involved in the UK case, said that preliminary work indicated it would request compensation of more than £3bn in the Dutch case for claimants including 77,000 individuals, almost 1,000 businesses and seven municipalities.

“The class action was launched in 2018 in England. The victims have been trying for justice in Brazil for eight-and-a-half years,” said Tom Goodhead, chief executive of Pogust Goodhead. “We have now brought a case in the Netherlands against Vale for the victims that haven’t had the opportunity to join the case in London.”

As part of the Dutch claim, Pogust Goodhead said that it has secured an “asset attachment” over shares in Amsterdam-based Vale Holdings BV owned by its Brazilian parent, preventing the subsidiary from paying dividends or selling shares until a final ruling.

In February 2023, Vale Holdings BV made a “dividend distribution in kind” to Vale in the form of $1.5bn of share buybacks. Pogust Goodhead believes this kind of transaction will be blocked by the asset attachment.

Vale said it “remains committed to supporting the full reparation of the damages caused by the Fundão dam collapse”.

Under an initial deal with Brazilian authorities, BHP and Vale agreed to fund the Renova Foundation, a non-profit organisation set up to provide compensation to affected communities. It has so far distributed about R$35.5bn ($7bn).

The UK legal case, the country’s largest-ever class action, is due to start in October. BHP has requested that Vale also be found liable for any resulting damages. A decision about Vale’s liability is expected around the time of the main ruling.

In January, Samarco, Vale and BHP were ordered by a Brazilian court to pay R$47.6bn in compensation for the dam collapse. Vale and BHP have both said they would consider appealing.

Pogust Goodhead, which is funded by US investment manager Gramercy and Brazilian investment firms Prisma Capital, Vinci Partners and Jive Investments, stands to win 6 per cent of individual damages and 20 per cent from municipalities if the Dutch case succeeds.

In the UK case, Pogust Goodhead and the Brazilian law firms that have brought the case stand to earn as much as 30 per cent of the settlement if their case is successful.

Decision to raise allocation to private equity and other assets comes after it missed out on up to $18bn of returns

Calpers, the US’s biggest public pension plan, is to increase its holdings in private markets by more than $30bn and reduce its allocation to stock markets and bonds in an effort to improve returns.

A proposal to increase the $483bn fund’s positions in assets such as private equity and private credit from 33 per cent of the plan to 40 per cent was approved on Monday, according to an announcement by the fund and notes from its board meeting. 

The formal approval comes two years after Calpers admitted that a decision to put its private equity programme on hold for 10 years had cost it up to $18bn in returns.

However, a review of its investment policy found that, despite the gains it had already missed, private equity was still the asset class with the highest expected long-term total return.

“Strong and ongoing growth in private equity returns is behind this measured and appropriate increase,” said Calpers trustee David Miller, chair of the investment committee. 

“Market conditions are evolving and the investment team needs latitude to deploy capital intelligently to keep the fund on track for sustainable returns.”

According to analysis published by Calpers alongside its board notes, private equity was the top-performing asset class in the decade to June 30 2023, with annualised returns of 11.8 per cent. That compares with 8.9 per cent from public equities and 2.4 per cent from fixed income. The documents did not disclose if the figures took account of fees.

The portfolio shake-up, which was confirmed after a scheduled asset allocation review, will bring the California-based plan into line with other big retirement systems in the US, including Calstrs, which has just over 40 per cent of its portfolio in private markets.

As part of the move, Calpers will increase its bet on private equity from 13 per cent to 17 per cent of its portfolio, although this could potentially rise as high as 22 per cent.

At the same time, it is pulling back from investing in stock markets, with its allocation to equities set to fall from 42 per cent to 37 per cent of its portfolio. It will also trim its allocation to fixed income from 30 per cent to 28 per cent.

Last year the Financial Times reported that Calpers was planning a multibillion-dollar move into international venture capital, as the fund moved towards investing in riskier assets to drive returns.

The fund also reported a return of 10.3 per cent last year.