New big disappointment at Atos, sanctioned by a fall of nearly 20% this Monday morning on the stock market. The digital business transformation company will not achieve its objectives for the 2021 financial year, whether in terms of turnover or operating margin. Objectives which had however been lowered last July, which had already caused a plunge of the same magnitude in the action, on the 12th of the month very precisely. Over one year, Atos lost more than half of its value and its market capitalization was only 3.5 billion euros. The title left the composition of the Cac 40 last September.
The group reported, before the opening of the markets, an unaudited annual turnover of around 10.8 billion euros, down around 2.4% at constant exchange rates. , while he had said he was counting on stable billings over a year. More importantly, the margins have also been revised downwards, to around 4% of turnover in terms of operations, the measure most followed in the sector, against a target of the order of 6%.
“Difficult to assess the impact on 2022”
Deviations from the initial ambitions, which can be explained in particular by an unforeseen increase in costs linked to a financial services contract in the United Kingdom, postponements of projects from the end of 2021 to 2022 and postponements of final agreements to 2022 , explains Atos in a press release. Cash flow also disappoints greatly. It was negative at €420 million for the year, whereas it was expected to be positive.
” The major difference relating to free cash flow is mainly due to the working capital requirement “Said the new CEO, Rodolphe Belmer, who took office last week, the former boss of the satellite operator Eutelsat having replaced Elie Girard. ” I am convinced that the group has the necessary assets and all the talents to recover and transform quickly. “, assured Monday Rodolphe Belmer. He added that he would present a new organization to the board of directors at the end of February, and in the second quarter a plan ” which will detail the drivers of this recovery “.
“This is akin to a passage to the steel wool accounts to settle the legacy of Elie Girard and open a new chapter on a sanitized basis. If the 2021 revisions will be very negative, it is difficult at this stage to assess the impact on 2022 and beyond, insofar as theoretically the postponements of 2021 should contribute to an acceleration of growth from 2022”, indicates the office of analysis of Invest Securities.
The 2022 objectives will be communicated on February 28 with the publication of the final 2021 results.