(AOF) – Infotel’s group share of net income fell by 11% to 18.1 million euros in 2023. The current operating income (excluding free shares) of the specialist in the digital transformation of major accounts in Europe was decreased by 7.7% to 27.5 million euros, representing a current operating margin of 8.9% compared to 9.9% in 2022. Turnover increased by 2.4% to 307.5 million euros.
Cash at the end of the 2023 financial year stands at 96.9 million euros compared to 97.8 million euros in 2022. Infotel specifies that for 2022, the cash has been subject to an accounting restatement in financial assets amounting to 15 million euros.
The Infotel board of directors will propose at the general meeting of May 22, 2024 the payment of a stable dividend of 2 euros per share for the 2023 financial year.
Following on from 2023, Infotel anticipates a stable first half then a rebound in activity in the second half of the year supported by the resumption of investments in the field of digital transformation.
In the longer term, Infotel has confirmed its ambition set as part of its strategic plan to achieve a turnover of 380 million euros (excluding acquisitions) by 2026, with a current operating margin greater than 10%.
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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.