Total faces investor scrutiny as debt swells

Capital discipline: People at a Total petrol station in the business district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The slide in the French company’s stock coincides with a tumultuous period in politics in France, where it is headquartered. — AFP

PARIS: TotalEnergies SE (Total) is under mounting pressure to show it can sustain payouts and deliver returns from its push into low-carbon energy as debt climbs and shares lag behind peers.

The French company last Wednesday announced it was cutting its quarterly stock repurchase programme to US$1.5bil from US$2bil and warned that it could fall as low as US$750mil next year.