SNCF, La Poste... Why these two public companies are still waiting for their new boss

The Élysée Palace was due to appoint the new CEOs of La Poste and SNCF at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. However, the transfer window is proving more complicated than expected. The names of Jean-Pierre Farandou's successors at SNCF and Philippe Wahl's at La Poste were expected. The names of the favorites were already known.

At SNCF, former Prime Minister Jean Castex is expected to leave his current position as head of RATP to take over as head of SNCF. For La Poste, the name circulating is that of Stéphane Dédeyan, the current director of La Banque Postale.

What's the problem? At La Poste, the issue is compensation, since Stéphane Dédeyan's current salary is well above the annual ceiling of €450,000 that the head of a public company must not exceed. The law allows the Caisse des Dépôts, owner of La Poste, to override this, but politically, this decision is deemed too sensitive for the Élysée.

As for the appointment of Jean Castex, it's causing some irritation at the SNCF. The two companies are competing in several competitive tenders. RATP hopes to win suburban train lines, while SNCF is eyeing bus lines in the Île-de-France region. The Élysée also wants to avoid this kind of controversy at this time, as these appointments must be approved by Parliament.

What will happen now? In the absence of a decision, the government is playing for time and will extend Philippe Wahl's position as president of La Poste, with an interim CEO. This could become complicated for Stéphane Dédeyan because there is another internal candidate: Nathalie Colin, director of network and digital.

Jean-Pierre Farandou, for his part, will remain at SNCF for a few more months (he was due to leave after the 2024 Olympic Games). Other names besides Jean Castex include Xavier Piechaczyk, president of RTE, and Marie-Ange Debon, president of Keolis (a subsidiary of SNCF).

The two departing CEOs have a relatively positive track record (return to profits, hiring, and social progress at SNCF; a tripling of profits at La Poste and a modernization of services). The downside is that potentially major projects to be launched in each of these companies can only be launched once the new CEOs are appointed.