11:00 p.m., September 3, 2022
Will he have to get used to being recognized when he leaves the glass tower of his Marseille HQ? Discreet to excess, Rodolphe Saadé, 52, CEO of CMA GGM, has become the boss everyone is talking regarding and the new strongman of French capitalism. Last year, his company made the biggest profit in the country, ahead of the CAC 40 leaders, TotalEnergies and LVMH, and inflated the nation’s export accounts, which are structurally in deficit. In 2022, it offered 9% of the capital of the airline Air France-KLM, alongside the French and Dutch states.
Spectacular profits
And this year promises to be even more spectacular for the third global player in freight, behind the Italian-Swiss MSC and the Danish Maersk. An unlisted floating empire that employs 150,000 people worldwide and operates 250 shipping routes on five continents. Just published, its profits earned over the past six months already amount to 14.8 billion euros, once morest 16.8 billion over twelve months last year. ” They are very good “, acknowledges lip service to the CEO in videoconference. The global logistical disorder linked to the post-health crisis recovery has caused prices for the transport of goods by container, a specialty of CMA CGM, to soar. And filled the pockets of the Saades (Rodolphe, his sister Tanya and his brother Jacques junior, equal shareholders of 73% of the shipowner), propelled from 19th to 5th place in the latest Challenges fortunes ranking.
“
Our results are not a windfall effect
“
A windfall effect that unleashed a flood of criticism. While inflation continues to gallop and eat away at purchasing power in households and margins in companies, the profiteers of the crisis, from TotalEnergies to CMA CGM, are now being singled out. Heard by the Senate at the end of July, the shipowner defended his jackpot, recalling that in 2019 his accounts were in the red. At the beginning of August, it reduced its freight rates by 25% in France. In vain. The debate on the taxation of super-profits
left once more. “I understand that the subject is put on the table, he said. But our results are not a windfall effect. They are the result of our past investments, which amount to billions to offer additional transport capacity to our customers. »
Transformation turbo
Next load plan: the energy transition. “We are going to deploy a special energy fund endowed with 1.5 billion euros over five years to accelerate the decarbonization of our activities worldwide”, announces to the JDD Rodolphe Saadé. Coincidence of the calendar or response of the shepherd to the shepherdess? What might be better than this strong gesture to meet the expectations of Bercy? A “green fund”the “interesting track” mentioned by Bruno Le Maire in an interview with echoes last Thursday ? Committed to a trajectory of “net zero carbon” (NZC) by 2050, the shipowner assures, however, that it has decided “seeing the fires in Gironde this summer”. “But I will participate in this green fund by allocating part of our commitment to joint projects”delivers the CEO.
“
We completed a dozen takeovers in twelve months
“
In the immediate future, he transforms his group into turbo mode. Real growth accelerators, the dividends of the crisis have served to reduce debt, strengthen its fleet of 580 ships and diversify into logistics. What, in less than two years, to leave its mark on the empire founded in 1978 in Marseille by the « lion des mers », his father, Jacques Saadé, as he extricated himself from Lebanon, his native country at war. The patriarch had sensed that he had to set sail for China, the future workshop of the world. His son believes in logistics. “Today, our customers expect us to offer them a transport chain by sea, land or air, with warehouses, forwarding services and end-to-end transport up to the last mile”analyzes the Marseille boss, who also sees in this second profession the means of “balance the effects of volatility specific to the freight industry”. His building block? “A new adventure but not the end of the story”answers this passionate regarding innovation who would see himself sending small spacecraft tomorrow to fetch lost satellites.
Read also – Inflation, repayment of state-guaranteed loans… Business failures increase
In the meantime, the past year has allowed this seasoned negotiator who, by his own admission, works a lot and sleeps little, to satisfy his obsession with “shot following”. “We completed a dozen takeovers in twelve months: Ingram Micro, the American warehouse manager; the Fenix Marine Services terminal in the Port of Los Angeles; Colis Privé, the French specialist in parcel deliveries », he lists, proud. More than 6 billion euros in checks in total. His best “shot following” ? “All: but the strategic partnership with Air France-KLM
and our entry into the capital is a very fine operation, as structuring as it was unexpected, with a group that we appreciate. »
Economic patriotism
And a new opportunity for the Franco-Lebanese boss to express his economic patriotism towards his adopted country and to maintain good relations with the government which in 2010 saved his debt-ridden group from bankruptcy. Thus, the shipowner was not asked to pay 386 million euros and enter the capital of Air France in difficulty while the executive might not directly support the air carrier, under penalty of being sanctioned by Brussels. for state aid. Rebelote with Gefco, the rail transport specialist for new vehicles. Bercy sought to cut ties, because of the war in Ukraine with its reference shareholder RZD, the Russian railway company. CMA CGM responded present. Just like when it came to bailing out Brittany Ferries, the Breton company specializing in cross-Channel passenger transport, last year. “France is my second country following Lebanon, which I left at the age of 11. I’m happy to live there and help when I can, recognizes Saade, and these operations were of interest to us. »
The latter were very good deals negotiated in a favorable balance of power. Except the recovery for 81 million euros of the dailies Provence et Morning run, following a battle of billionaires once morest Xavier Niel. An investment of conviction, not influence, assures the first private employer in Marseille. “Everything related to this city interests me and, at this price, it’s too much to pay for a dancer”, he quips. Carried by historically high prices, will CMA CGM continue its purchases at this rate? “Prices have started to drop: we went from a high of 15,000 dollars per container to 6,800 euros on average in July between Asia and Europe”, notify the shipowner. Without, however, expecting a drastic drop in prices as in 2008, when each CMA CGM “box” crossed the oceans from Shanghai to Le Havre for 350 dollars. “Today, some already imagine us entering a war economy because inflation will lasthe continues. The war, the real one, the one I experienced in Lebanon and which forged my personality, is something else. » There is no doubt that it has prepared the leader to face tomorrows which sing like those which disillusion.