French Financial Markets Authority publishes study showing Paris listings have more than halved since 2007 and the market has become more concentrated in large issuers

The French Financial Markets Authority has published a study on market-based financing in Paris over 2007-2025, concluding that the Paris market has undergone weak renewal and is now more concentrated in large listed companies. Euronext Paris has lost more than half of its listed companies in less than 20 years, mainly because initial public offerings have dried up since the subprime crisis. Since 2024, the number of companies listed on Euronext Growth has also started to decline. The study finds that the fall in listings does not mainly reflect French companies choosing foreign listings, but rather weaker IPO activity and fewer transfers from growth markets to regulated markets. By contrast, transfers of small-cap companies from Euronext Paris to Euronext Growth have increased, without apparent damage to valuations or fundraising capacity, although trading volumes decline markedly after the move. The AMF also finds that listed companies' financial profiles were generally weaker in 2023 than in 2007, with lower profitability, higher debt-to-equity ratios for most issuers and a larger share of fragile or very fragile companies, especially on compartment C and Euronext Growth. On funding trends, equity issuance by already listed companies has been volatile and tended to peak during crises, while recent capital raisings were mainly used to strengthen equity and reduce debt. Bond issuance by French non-financial companies was strong over the period, but remained concentrated in large companies, with SMEs and mid-sized firms increasing bond market use only up to 2017 before that momentum slowed.