(Boursier.com) – It was predictable after the new “profit warning” … Atos had a very difficult session, collapsing Monday by 16.8% to 32.10 euros at the close. Not enough to put a smile on the face of the shareholders of the digital services company, which had already experienced a very complicated 2021 stock market year. The stock has fallen 52% over the past year.
The group issued Monday morning a warning on its annual results mainly due to items that it considers to be non-recurring. Compared to the objectives set last July, the management announced, for the 2021 financial year, a preliminary turnover of 10.8 billion euros, down around 2.4% at exchange rates. constant, an operating margin of around 4% and free cash flow of around -420 million euros. Results to be compared with the previous guidance, ie stable revenues, an operating margin of around 6% and a “positive” free cash flow.
These deviations from the defined objectives are explained in particular by an unexpected increase in costs linked to a financial services contract in the United Kingdom, project delays from the end of 2021 to 2022 and postponement of final agreements to 2022. Rodolphe Belmer, the brand new CEO of Atos, will present a new organization to the board of directors at the end of February, and in the second quarter a plan that will detail the drivers of this recovery, as well as his priorities which are profitable growth and creation. valuable.
The Atos profit warning is “massive” and “entirely company-specific,” says Oddo BHF. The “most worrying” data concerns organic growth of Atos in the fourth quarter, which stood at around -9%, said the analyst (‘neutral’). This should imply that the company starts the year with a “significant” drop in turnover.
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