(AOF) – Solutions 30 published a net profit, group share, of 21.5 million euros for the 2021 financial year, down 37.7% over one year. Operating profit fell by 73% to 12.9 million, as turnover increased by 6.7% to 874 million euros. The specialist in solutions for new technologies cites problems related to supply chains as well as the impact of covid-19 variants on absenteeism to justify its performance.
For the first quarter, activity is 1.1% below what it was a year ago, with revenues which fell to 222.7 million euros. Despite everything, Solutions 30 confirmed its objective of profitable growth in 2022 with an acceleration in the second half.
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=/ Key points /=
– European number 1 in multi-technical services for the deployment and maintenance of technical services, created in 2003;
– Turnover of €819 million achieved 64% in France, 17% in Benelux and the rest in Italy, the Iberian Peninsula, Germany and Poland;
– Revenues drawn 60% from telecoms (30% share of the French market), 16% from energy and 11% from the IT sector;
– “Better, faster, smarter” business model combining internal and external growth with duplication of the French model in Europe in order to address key accounts and new markets; and based on 3 pillars: customer loyalty, territorial network with dominant positions in each market, S3net platform for sharing expertise and providing human skills;
– Open capital, Gianbeppi Fortis, co-founder and chairman of the management board, holding less than 5%, ahead of Karim Rachedi with 7.3%, Alexander Sator chairing the six-member supervisory board;
– Very solid financial position with shareholders’ equity of €149 million against net debt of €27 million and cash of €46 million at the end of June.
-/ Stakes/=
– Strong growth strategy via critical size in each geographic market and training technicians in new skills;
– Innovation strategy focused on the constant improvement of the S3net platform (annual investments of 1 to 2% of turnover) and on the new market for connected equipment via the “ideas laboratory”;
– Environmental strategy with 2 components – offer of innovative services with less environmental impact and involvement of suppliers and partners in the group’s CSR effort;
– Confirmation of breakthroughs in mobility (electric vehicle charging stations) and maintenance of connected objects and fallout from fiber contracts in Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
– Activity sustained by the deployment of very high speed or new generation mobile networks and by the development of electric mobility;
– Recurring revenues, drawn 59% from maintenance activities and continued contract wins.
=/ Challenges /=
– Sensitivity of turnover, for 45% of the total, to the three 1
ers
customers -telecoms and energy, negative impact on the profit of the Polish zloty/euro parity;
– Fall in market valuation due to accusations by activist funds Muddy Waters and Carson Block on the possibility of links with Italian organized crime, the non-certification by the auditor EY of the 2020 accounts, although approved by the assembly general;
– Impact of the pandemic: 21% increase in half-year revenue;
– For the whole of the 2021 financial year, Solutions 30 now expects profitable growth of around 10%
The talent war has been further reinforced by the announcement of Facebook, which intends to make 10,000 hires within five years in Europe. The lack of human resources is not limited to France or Europe: it is global. Thus 1.2 million computer engineers are expected to be missing in 2026 in the United States. In France, according to Numeum, federation of the digital sector, there is a shortage of around 10,000 computer engineers out of a total of 600,000 people employed by software publishers and digital service companies (SSII). If the phenomenon is not new, it is intensifying. It is reinforced both by the hiring of certain companies, looking for developers to internalize their essential digital projects, and by the strong ambitions of certain start-ups.