Alstom accumulates industrial setbacks (especially in Germany) and plunges on the stock market: the Minister of the Economy warns that he will not let French employees pay the price

“The State is alongside Alstom (...) but we will also be extremely demanding on employment in France,” declared the Minister of the Economy Roland Lescure this Wednesday, November 4, two days after the French railway group reported a new industrial breakdown. The world's second largest railway manufacturer announced on Monday a drastic reduction in its annual forecasts, after poor results in the first half due to production difficulties for its Coradia Max train program intended for Germany.

“The State is alongside Alstom, in particular through its participation,” declared Roland Lescure on Wednesday during questions to the government in the Senate, recalling that the public investment bank Bpifrance is a shareholder and was “fully playing its role of supporting the board of directors”. “But we will also be extremely demanding on employment in France: there is no question that issues happening elsewhere in the world will have a direct impact” on the group’s 14 French sites, notably in Valenciennes, Belfort or La Rochelle. To protect its credit rating, the company announced a program to reduce its debt to the tune of 2 billion euros, the outlines of which remain to be defined.

“Inorganic” measures, that is to say asset sales or a capital increase, are on the table. “State participation in any inorganic operation could, in our opinion, be considered,” explain analysts at Oddo BHF. 15.

000 jobs in France Alstom employs around 15,000 people in France and 90,000 in total in 61 countries.

“I am committed to following this very closely, obviously, with Sébastien Martin”, the Minister Delegate in charge of Industry, assured Roland Lescure. Alstom fell sharply on the stock market on Monday, after its second profit warning of the year, despite a full order book. In the current 2026-27 financial year, Alstom now expects to produce only 4.

000 cars compared to 4,400 to 4,500 previously expected.

Of this total, "two thirds" of the production delay are linked to two of the six Coradia Max regional train contracts signed with German Länder, financial director Bernard Delpit said in an interview with analysts on Monday. Alstom's delivery problems "are not new", recalled Roland Lescure on Wednesday, "and the job of the new management team is to deal with them." In April, the group had already lowered its performance targets and suffered a first stock market plunge, just after the arrival of Martin Sion, who succeeded Henri Poupart-Lafarge.

Machine-translated from French