TotalEnergies CEO: Moving main listing to New York would be 'no matter of emotion.'

By Steve Goldstein

The chief executive of French energy giant TotalEnergies reiterated that the company is looking at moving its primary listing to the U.S. as he sought to play down the significance of such a decision.

"It's a question of business," said Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of TotalEnergies (TTE) (FR:TTE), at the Qatar Economic Forum. "What we have observed is that we have more and more U.S. shareholders."

"We can only offer them ADR, and we want to offer them shares," he said. He also pointed out that U.S. integrated energy majors command better valuations.

Pouyanne stressed that even if it moves the primary listing, it'll still keep a Paris listing as well as its headquarters there. "That's technical and no matter of emotion."

French President Emmanuel Macron said he opposes such a move and would be "very surprised" if it happens.

Shell (SHEL) CEO Wael Sawan has also commented about the possibility of moving its main listing to New York, also citing better valuations.

   Name               Ticker   P/E NTM  EV/EBITDA NTM  NTM Prod/Day 
   TotalEnergies ADR  TTE      8.0x     3.9x           2,470.47 
   Saudi Arabian Oil  SA:2222  16.1x    7.6x           12,891.33 
   Exxon Mobil        XOM      12.5x    7.0x           4,415.69 
   Chevron            CVX      12.2x    4.9x           3,628.31 
   PetroChina H       HK:857   7.5x     3.3x           - 
   Shell              SHEL     8.8x     3.4x           2,799.42 
   Petroleo Bras Pfd  PBR      4.5x     2.4x           3,000.00 
   BP                 BP       7.8x     3.0x           2,357.91 
   Average            9.7x     4.4x           4,509.02 
   Data: FactSet 

-Steve Goldstein

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-15-24 0530ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.