(AOF) – Aubay recorded a decline of 6.2% in its group share of net income to 33.4 million euros in 2023. Operating income from activity fell by 10.9% to 47.385 million euros euros, showing a margin of 8.9% compared to 10.4% in 2022. At the end of January, the digital services company announced that the operating margin of activity was expected at the top of the range announced in October, namely between 8% and 9%. Already published, turnover reached 534.1 million euros, a purely organic increase of 4%.
The board of directors has decided to propose to the general meeting of May 14, 2024 an unchanged dividend of 1.20 euros per share for 2023, i.e. a payout ratio of 47% of net profit. Taking into account the interim dividend paid on November 10, 2023 for 0.50 euros per share, the balance to be paid will amount to 0.70 euros per share.
The cash flow generated by the activity reached 41.7 million euros (vs. 33.9 million euros in 2022), allowing the net cash flow to establish itself beyond the group’s expectations, at 93 million euros.
In 2024, Aubay is targeting a turnover of between 534 and 550 million euros and an operating margin of between 8.5% and 9.5%.
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Moving forward in generative AI
Digital companies have already started to adapt their offers and practices to this development, which combines ChatGPT and information systems. The most developed use cases concern call centers with the intervention of chatbots or in marketing, to generate text or images automatically. The potential is enormous and Accenture France aims to achieve 30% of its activity with the data & AI niche by 2025. World market leader, Accenture has announced $3 billion in investment over three years in this area, with a doubling in the number of dedicated employees to reach 80,000 (out of 738,000 in total). As for the French leader in the sector, Capgemini, it is targeting an investment of 2 billion euros over the next three years, and 60,000 specialized employees (out of 360,000 currently).
Artificial intelligence now regulated in Europe
An attempt was made to find a balance between the desire to protect the fundamental rights of citizens and the desire not to restrict the development of European start-ups. The French and German associations of digital companies, Numeum and Bitkom, had also called for a European regulation on artificial intelligence (AI Act) favorable to innovation for AI in Europe and without overly restrictive rules, particularly for generative AI. The European approach is to impose obligations for high-risk AI systems, rated from low to unacceptable. For the regulation of generative AI (ChatGPT type systems), the EU has established stronger requirements for the most powerful models.