"2008 first quarter revenue at EUR 1,424 million, Organic growth at +5.3 per cent"
- Excluding 2008 disposals, Italy and AEMS Exchange, Q1 2008 revenue stands at EUR 1,356 million; a +5.9 per cent organic growth
- Order entries increased by +11 per cent compared to first quarter 2007
- Net debt reduced at EUR 304 million compared to EUR 411 million at 31 March 2007
Atos Origin, a leading IT services company, today announced 2008 first quarter revenue. Excluding Italy sold at 31 January 2008 and AEMS Exchange, disposal expected to be finalised in September 2008, first quarter revenue amounted to EUR 1,356 million representing an organic growth of +5.9 per cent.
First quarter statutory revenue including one month of Italy and three months of AEMS Exchange was EUR 1,424 million, still a strong organic growth of +5.3 per cent.
These figures reaffirm the encouraging trend observed since mid-2007 and confirm the positive momentum of the Transformation Plan.
First quarter 2008 revenue:
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Philippe Germond – CEO of Atos Origin said: “This promising first quarter 2008 performance validates our Transformation Plan, which the Management Board started to implement during the second half of last year, and which is now producing tangible results both in revenue growth and orders intake. These figures highlight the competitiveness of the underlying business and the momentum that we are achieving. Following on from our much improved 2007 full year results, this quarter puts Atos Origin firmly on the road to recovery and positions us well to meet our stated 2008 targets. The first quarter illustrates that Atos Origin is in a position to deliver shareholder value.”
Q1 2008 Revenue performance by service line:
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After organic growth of respectively +6.6 per cent and +5.3 per cent in Q3 and Q4 2007, Q1 2008 organic growth remained strong both on statutory scope with +5.3 per cent and, excluding Italy and AEMS Exchange, with +5.9 per cent.
This performance is mainly due to good trends in Systems Integration which continues to improve quarter after quarter and record a solid +7.2 per cent organic growth in Q1 2008.
Managed operations remain robust with +6.2 per cent organic growth benefiting from a solid +10.4 per cent organic growth for Atos Worldline after +5.1 per cent organic growth full year 2007, and from +5.6 per cent for Managed Services thanks to long term contracts ramp up.
Consulting is improving, albeit still negative, the organic decrease was limited to -3.3 per cent compared to -6.3 per cent in Q4 2007 and -16.2 per cent in Q3 2007, showing a recovery trend.
Q1 2008 Revenue performance by geographical area:
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In France, Q1 2008 revenue was up by +7.5 per cent organic growth, at EUR 426 million, compared to the first quarter of 2007. Consulting grew by +10.8 per cent organic growth confirming the positive trend observed at the end of last year benefiting from strong actions from the new management team. Managed Operations achieved a +9 per cent organic growth with an increasing level of up-selling business with existing customers. The Systems Integration was up by +5.4 per cent mainly in the telecom and industry sectors.
In the United Kingdom, organic growth was up +1.1 per cent in the first quarter 2008 affected by the performance of the AEMS Exchange business. Without this activity, expected to be transferred to NYSE Euronext in September 2008, the organic growth was +5.5 per cent. This performance was reached with a +14.3 per cent organic growth in Managed Operations confirming the full effect of the large contracts delivered last year. In Systems Integration, revenue organic growth was stable compared to last year and in Consulting the activity remained low, as expected, with new management needing a few months to implement all the necessary actions to achieve a full turnaround.
In The Netherlands, as forecasted, revenue was stable at -0.7 per cent due to the re-insourcing by KPN of the desktop services contract and the implementation of the new three-year outsourcing contracts. Systems Integration was flat compared to last year and has implemented actions to recover a shortage of staff in the SAP environment. In Consulting, Financial services sector over-performed compensating lower sales in Public sector and Industry.
In Germany and Central Europe, organic growth of +9.2 per cent was mainly driven by a strong performance in Systems Integration at +24 per cent organic growth thanks to the Dresdner Bank contract signed in 2007 and new business coming from existing customers in the telecom sector.
Within Rest of EMEA, Iberia had a strong organic growth at +10.8 per cent with double digit growth in Consulting and in Managed Operations and Belux grew by +12 per cent organically; Mediterranean countries and Africa grew by +39 per cent with strong telecom business development.
Asia Pacific posted a solid +36 per cent organic growth with new business development in China and with strong additional business from the Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.
As planned, Americas revenue decreased by EUR 12 million due to a base effect from the Panamerican Games in Brazil which contributed for the same amount in Q1 2007.
Portfolio: confirmation of positive commercial momentum
During the first quarter of 2008, the total order entries reached EUR 1 432 million, a +11 per cent growth compared to the first quarter 2007. The Q1 2008 order intakes represented a book to bill ratio of 101 per cent compared to 90 per cent in Q1 2007.
The Group won several key contracts in France including MMA insurance company and with a large French oil company, in the United Kingdom, Carbon Trust, Go North East as well as contracts in the Public sector were signed, in The Netherlands, Nuon, in North America, Fenwal and in China, Bank of China.
Net debt
The net debt was reduced to EUR 304 million at the end of March 2008 compared to EUR 338 million at the end of December 2007 and EUR 411 million at the end of March 2007. This performance was reached thanks to strong cash drive actions on working capital and the effect of the disposal of Italy for EUR 40 million.
2008 Objectives
Excluding Italy, sold in January 2008, and AEMS Exchange expected to be transferred to NYSE Euronext in September 2008, the Group confirms its 2008 objectives as communicated on 15 February 2008:
- Revenue organic growth of +4%
- Improvement of the operating margin to reach 5.6 per cent after operating costs of Transformation Plan compared to 4.6 per cent in 2007
- Net debt reduction of EUR 100 million after dividends, cash out for the pensions in the UK and proceeds from disposals Italy and AEMS Exchange.
Forthcoming announcements
| 22nd May 2008 | Annual General Meeting |
| 31st July 2008 | First half 2008 results |
Disclaimer
This document contains unaudited first quarter 2008 figures.
The document contains further forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning the Group’s expected growth and profitability in the future. Actual events or results may differ from those described in this document due to a number of risks and uncertainties that are described within the 2007 annual report filed with the Autorités des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on 9 April 2008 as a Document de Référence under the registration number: D08-218.
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 revenue is EUR 5.8 billion and it employs 50,000 professionals in 40 countries. Atos Origin is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic Games and has a client base of international blue-chip companies across all sectors.
Atos Origin is quoted on the Paris Eurolist Market and trades as Atos Origin, Atos Worldline and Atos Consulting.
Press contact:
Marie-Tatiana Collombert,
Tel. : +33 (0) 1 55 91 26 33,
marie-tatiana.collombert@atosorigin.com
Investor contact :
Gilles Arditti,
Tel. : +33 (0) 1 55 91 28 83,
gilles.arditti@atosorigin.com
