“Atos Origin third quarter revenues for 2004: On track to achieve 2004 targets”
Atos Origin, a leading international information technology services provider, today announced that unaudited revenues for the three months ended September 30th, 2004 amounted to EUR 1,253 million, compared with EUR 717 million in the same period last year (+75%). Adjusting for the acquisition of Sema Group at the start of 2004 and the disposal of several business units during the past twelve months, the group generated organic revenue growth of 0.9% on a constant scope and exchange rate basis.
Net debt fell from EUR 676 million at the end of June 2004 to EUR 562 million at the end of September 2004.
The appendix to this statement provides an analysis of revenues by service line and geographic region.
Analysis of Revenue Performance
Total Group revenues for the seasonally low-key quarter ended September 30th, 2004 were EUR 1,253 million, compared with EUR 717 million for the equivalent period last year. Atos Origin acquired Sema Group with effect from January 2004. The comparative pro forma revenues of the combined Group in Q3 2003 were EUR 1,285 million and on that basis the 2004 figures were therefore 2.5% lower. After adjusting for business disposals during the past twelve months, and at constant exchange rates, the Group produced organic growth of +0.9%. This is the first quarter-on-quarter increase since the recent market decline took effect in 2002.
In Consulting & Systems Integration there was a 4.2% decline in revenue organically in the third quarter, year-on-year, as the Group continues to refocus its activities away from low-end commoditized business towards providing specific added value solutions as part of its portfolio of services to key clients.
After adjusting for the disposal of the Cellnet business, organic revenue growth in Managed Operations was 5.9%, reflecting the steady inflow of orders that has accumulated during the past year.
On a regional basis, revenues in France were 3.6% lower at constant scope, reflecting a migration away from some commoditized system integration activities as part of the Group’s repositioning strategy and as a result of the extensive integration of Sema. Elsewhere, good organic revenue growth was achieved in both The Netherlands (+4.5%) and in the United Kingdom (+7%), where the Group picked up additional work, especially in the Public Sector. Revenues in the rest of EMEA were lower, mainly in the Middle East and the weak Italian market.
Outlook
Revenue for the nine months to September 30th, 2004 amounted to EUR 3,906 million. The Group won a major outsourcing contract with KarstadtQuelle in Germany during the third quarter. That contract began contributing as expected at the beginning of October and the Group remains on target to report revenues of just below EUR 5.3 billion in 2004.
The merger integration and restructuring plan is also on track and we remain confident of achieving an operating margin in excess of 7% this year.
Taking into account EUR 90 million paid in October to acquire assets relating to the KarstadtQuelle business, we expect net debt to fall below EUR 550 million by year-end.
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About Atos Origin
Atos Origin is an international information technology services company. Its business is turning client vision into results through the application of consulting, systems integration and managed operations. The company’s annual revenues are more than EUR 5 billion and it employs 45,000 people in 50 countries. Atos Origin is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic Games and its clients include ABN AMRO, Akzo Nobel, Alstom, BNP Paribas, Ericsson, EDF, Euronext, Fiat, France Telecom, ING, KPN, Philips, Renault, Royal Bank of Scotland, Saudi Aramco, Schlumberger, Shell, Standard Chartered Bank, Telecom Italia, UK Department for Work and Pensions, Unilever, Vivendi Universal and Vodafone.
Atos Origin is quoted on the Paris Euronext Premier Marché and operates under the trade names Atos Origin, AtosEuronext, Atos Worldline and Atos Consulting.
Contact for Press:
Marie-Tatiana Collombert
Tel: +33 (0) 1 55 91 26 33
marie-tatiana.collombert@atosorigin.com
Contact for Investors:
John White
Tel: +33 (0) 1 55 91 26 32
john.white@atosorigin.com
