2024-08-01 07:41:00
[Article publié le jeudi 01 août 2024 à 09h41 et mis à jour à 11h00] French IT group Atos, one of the technological pillars of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, announced on Thursday that it had recorded a net loss of 1.9 billion euros in the first half of the year. The announcement caused the group’s shares to plummet, dropping 9.7% to 0.88 euros at 10:15 a.m.
This loss is largely due to a depreciation of assets of 1.5 billion euros and also ” the impairment of customer relationships for 109 million euros in the Americas region due to the end of customer contracts “, the group specified in a press release. The depreciation of assets consists for a company of adjusting the value of an asset in its accounts compared to that which it granted to it until then.
Version 6 01/08/2024 10:38 UTC+2 Atos in the red in the first half after significant asset writedownsGeneral Paper technologies | computer science | results | Oly | 2024 | cybersecurity | funding | bankruptcy | companies | industry | defense | nuclear | France | government
Paris, France | AFP | Thursday 01/08/2024 – 10:38 UTC+2 | 727 mots
Updated with stock market prices
on Daxia ROJAS
French IT group Atos, the technological pillar of the Paris Olympics, announced on Thursday a net loss of 1.9 billion euros in the first half, after significant asset write-downs and a slowdown in activity in America and Central Europe.
The announcement caused the group’s shares to plummet, dropping 9.7% to 0.88 euros at 10:15 a.m. (08:15 a.m. GMT).
The former tech flagship entered into an accelerated safeguard procedure in July, which should enable it to get its head above water, in particular by implementing its restructuring plan, the amount of which reaches 1.75 billion euros.
“Atos is saved,” said the new CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier, who has already been chairman of the board of directors since October 2023, during a conference with journalists.
“The priorities are of course to support the growth of the group with all the teams, renew the confidence of customers and, at the same time, work on the implementation of new governance,” he added.
Weighed down by a colossal gross debt of nearly 5 billion euros, Atos had initiated a restructuring procedure in February. It has since found itself plunged into a financial saga with multiple twists and turns.
Following the withdrawal at the end of June of the consortium led by Onepoint, the main shareholder of Atos initially chosen to carry out this rescue, the creditors and the banks agreed to take over the company themselves.
Their agreement includes a capital increase of 233 million euros and a debt reduction of around 3 billion euros.
Atos had indicated in mid-July that the company would remain “uncontrolled” during a “transition period” until the financial restructuring was completed because the banks and bondholders “do not intend to act in concert”.
– Activity down –
The first-half loss was largely due to a write-down of assets of 1.5 billion euros and also to “the write-down of customer relationships for 109 million euros in the Americas region due to the end of customer contracts,” the group said in a statement.
Asset depreciation involves a company adjusting the value of an asset in its accounts compared to the value it previously assigned to it.
On the business side, the group also saw its overall turnover fall by 10%, to 4.96 billion euros over the first six months of the year. The drop in activity affected the Eviden division, which brings together cybersecurity, digital and ” big data “, whose turnover fell by 7.9% to 2.4 billion euros, notably due to ” of a continued market slowdown in the Americas and the UK “, according to the group.
It also affected the Tech Foundations branch (outsourcing), which saw a drop in sales of 11.8% to 2.6 billion euros, which reflects reductions in contract scopes, particularly in central Europe. In Germany, there was a slowdown in public sector orders in particular. “, explained Jean-François de Prest, CFO of Atos.
“Our revenues and operating margin for the half-year are in line with the business plan presented on April 29, despite difficult market conditions in some of our main geographic areas,” said Jean-Pierre Mustier, Chairman and CEO of Atos.
Financial soap opera
The former tech flagship has been immersed in a financial saga with multiple twists and turns for several months. In July, it entered into an accelerated safeguard procedure that should allow the group to get its head above water, in particular by implementing its restructuring plan, the amount of which reaches 1.75 billion euros.
“We now have an agreement with our financial creditors, providing us with sufficient liquidity to operate the Group and giving us a solid foundation for the future,” the CEO also commented.
As a reminder, weighed down by a colossal gross debt of nearly 5 billion euros, Atos, which has more than 90,000 employees in 69 countries, had initiated a restructuring procedure in February. After the withdrawal at the end of June of the consortium led by Onepoint, the largest shareholder of Atos initially chosen to carry out this rescue, the creditors and the banks agreed to take over and save the company themselves. Their agreement includes in particular a capital increase of 233 million euros and a reduction in debt of approximately 3 billion euros.
Banks and bondholders will then become the majority shareholders of Atos: they will hold up to 99.9% of the capital. The capital increase is however open to current shareholders who would not like to see their stake diluted and could, if they contribute, secure a maximum of 25.9% of the capital.
Atos had indicated in mid-July that the company would remain “uncontrolled” during a ” transition period “until the financial restructuring is completed because the banks and bondholders” do not intend to act in concert ».
Sensitive activities
As the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) global IT partner since 2002, Atos is one of the technological pillars of the Paris Olympic Games, responsible in particular for accreditation management, instantaneous results dissemination and cybersecurity. Its future also has a strong political dimension linked to its strategic activities in the field of defense (army equipment or supercomputers used for French nuclear deterrence).
In this context, the French group announced at the end of June that it had ” finalized » negotiation with the French State ” of a convention aimed at protecting the interests of sovereignty ” of the latter. In short, it is a question of preventing these activities from falling into the hands of foreign players. In mid-June, the State made an offer of 700 million euros to buy them. Atos specified on Thursday that the finalization of the negotiation of this agreement should be finalized in October while the issue of the preferred share is planned for the second half of the year.
The State’s proposal, formulated in a ” non-binding confirmatory offer letter “, concerned ” the potential acquisition of 100% of the Advanced Computing, Mission-Critical Systems and Cybersecurity Products activities of the BDS (Big Data & Cybersecurity) division ” Atos, the latter specified in a press release in mid-June. These activities include supercomputers used for nuclear deterrence, contracts with the French army and cybersecurity products.
The French Ministry of Economy also granted a loan of 50 million euros to the company and acquired a ” preference share ” allowing him to veto certain operations at Bull, the subsidiary which builds these supercomputers.
(With AFP)
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