ENGIE, the French multinational electric utility company, which operates in the fields of energy transition, electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear, renewable energy and petroleum, has been fighting over the future of the only female chief executive in the CAC 40 index, Isabelle Kocher.

Tensions have mounted at the highest level of the utility amid reports of a rupture over Ms Kocher’s performance and the strategic direction of a group that traces its roots back to the start of construction of the Suez Canal in the 1850s. Since taking the helm of the €60bn-turnover company...