The departure of the Chief Executive Officer of Engie closes a period of conflict with the President of the group, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu.
The only female leader in a CAC 40 group, Isabelle Kocher should be replaced by a new leader. Names are already circulating.
A decisive week for Engie
Isabelle Kocher is no longer Managing Director of Engie. After months of internal tension, the board of directors of the French energy group thanked the manager, in office since 2016.
The former CEO did not resist the criticism and pressure from the directors of Engie. Despite the displayed support of political figures like Yannick Jadot, Xavier Bertrand or Anne Hidalgo, Ms. Kocher will not have succeeded in rallying Emmanuel Macron to his cause.
However, public support from the President of the Republic could have changed the fate of the leader. A 23% shareholder of Engie, the French State therefore chose to let go of Isabelle Kocher, when her mandate was due to end in May.
A criticized vision and assessment
A student at the École normale supérieure and engineer of the Corps des Mines, Isabelle Kocher has notably gone through the Ministry of the Economy and the office of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. She joined the private sector in 2002 by joining Suez. Five years later, she recovered the head of the Lyonnaise des eaux, then moved to GDF Suez in 2011. The group changed its name in 2015 and Ms. Kocher took over the management the following year, becoming the first female CEO ” a CAC 40 group.
When Ms. Kocher took over from Mr. Mestrallet, the historic boss of Engie, the group’s economic health was worrying. She decides to orient the activity towards services and initiates an ecological shift: from now on, Engie is positioning itself as an actor of the energy transition.
But the green turn taken by Engie divides: if Ms. Kocher takes a stand for renewable energies and services, we remain very attached to nuclear energy and fossil fuels internally. These energy sources represented 26.8% of the group’s turnover in 2018, compared to only 18.6% for services and 2.7% for renewable electricity.
On the financial side, the manager’s record is mixed: when she took office in 2016, Engie had a turnover of 66.6 billion euros. For 2019, it is estimated at 63.8 billion euros. Rather good results compared to previous years, but insufficient to gain the confidence of the board of directors. On the stock market, Ms. Kocher has certainly succeeded in relaunching the group’s action, in free fall from the creation of the group until taking office in 2016.
Who to take Isabelle Kocher’s place?
In the process, Engie appointed the Chief Operating Officer Paulo Almirante, the Financial Director of Austrian origin Judith Hartmann, and the General Secretary Claire Waysand to take over the management of the group during an interim period.
Ultimately, several women are likely to succeed Isabelle Kocher:
- Sophie Boissard, CEO of Korian, European leader in retirement homes
- Christel Bories, Director of Eramet, a French group specialized in mining
- Sandra Lagumina, former Deputy Managing Director of Engie
- Judith Hartmann, who attends to Engie
- Catherine Guillouard, current CEO of RATP, and former member of the board of directors of Engie between 2015 and 2019
Sources: L’Express, Le Monde, Le Monde
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