Smart card and security company Gemalto this week joined the CAC 40 index in Paris, which counts as members such blue-chip French companies as Total, BNP Paribas, Carrefour and Airbus jet maker EADS.
Gemalto replaces financially troubled telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent on the index, which also includes such well-known brands as Danone, L’Oreal, Michelin and chip maker STMicroelectronics. Aerospace, defense and security supplier Safran is also part of the CAC and has a smart card and NFC unit, part of its Morpho e-Documents division. But e-Documents makes up a small portion of Safran’s total revenue.
Gemalto would be one of the smallest companies on the CAC, with revenue expected to approach €2.2 billion this year, up from €2 billion in 2011. But its entry on the index adds exposure and name recognition globally for the vendor, which is believed to be the largest supplier of trusted service management services and NFC SIMs worldwide for the nascent NFC market. It also supplies other software for NFC implementations.
