Finance
TotalEnergies booked loss in France due to refining activities, CEO says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 13, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 13, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 13, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 13, 2026
TotalEnergies reported a refining loss in France, leading to no corporate tax payment. CEO Pouyanne warns against high taxation on large companies.
By America Hernandez
PARIS, Feb 13 - French oil major TotalEnergies did not pay corporate tax in France last year because its operations in the country led to a loss of between 200 million euros ($237.22 million) and 300 million euros, its chief executive said on French television on Friday.
CEO Patrick Pouyanne was questioned on how Total, which on Wednesday reported 2025 adjusted net income of $15.6 billion, escaped France's corporate surtax on large companies — a measure that was supposed to be temporary but has been rolled over into the 2026 budget as France struggles with high debt.
"It so happens that in France our refining activities suffered enormously in the first six months of the year ... and this activity was loss-making, with a fiscal deficit of 200-300 million (euros)," Pouyanne said on TV station TF1's Ecorama show.
"Globally our tax rate is 40%, which is higher than the French rates, so I'm not one to be given lessons ...and we were the largest contributor to the French tax on share buybacks, with around 180 million (euros)," he added.
The CEO warned that taxing large companies to balance France's budget would lead to an investment pullback.
($1 = 0.8431 euros)
(Reporting by America Hernandez in Paris; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Inti Landauro)
Corporate tax is a tax imposed on the income or profit of corporations. It is calculated based on the company's earnings and is typically a percentage of the profit.
Investment portfolios are collections of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents held by an individual or institution to achieve specific investment goals.
Business investment refers to the allocation of resources, usually in the form of capital, to acquire assets or improve operations with the expectation of generating future returns.
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