Atos’ first half results showed sales down due to the crisis effect on manufacturing and financial services investments. Revenue was € 5.627bn, down -2.8% organically. Manufacturing was the sector hardest hit, down some 9.2%. Public sector work rose by 6.1% however. Financial Services & Insurance revenue was €1.077bn, down by -4.3% organically. The Industry was impacted mainly in Q2 by a decrease of activities as several banking institutions have postponed and reduced discretionary expenses in the context of Covid-19.
In Northern Europe, revenue was roughly stable at €1.36bn. Strong business was recorded in Public Sector & Defense mainly led by the continuation of the new contract with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast, and with European Union Institutions. The situation was more challenging in Telecom, Media & Technology, impacted by application projects postponed and some contracts ramped down, as well as in Manufacturing due to the base effect of contracts ended in 2019.
In Central Europe, revenue was stable at €1.370bn, led by Big Data platforms in Public Sector & Defense, as well as new Digital Workplace contract with a global Life Sciences company and healthcare provider. The geography was impacted by application projects postponed particularly in Manufacturing (aerospace and automotive industries) and in Telecom, Media & Technology, as well as the legacy activity of Unified Communication & Collaboration.
In Southern Europe, revenue reached €1.143bn, decreasing by -7.0% organically. The geography was impacted by application projects postponed particularly in Resources & Services and Telecom, Media & Technology, as well as non-repeated sales in High Performance Computing activities performed last year both in Public Sector & Defense and in Manufacturing;
Elie Girard, CEO, said: “During the first half of 2020, in the very specific context of the pandemic, we prioritized the health and safety of our people, while ensuring business continuity to our customers by delivering critical services supported by our resilient business model. We also started early in the semester to prepare our customers for the post-Covid times through our Future-Ready portfolio of offerings.
“Thanks to this timely strategy and the unique profile of the Group, Revenue only declined by -2.8 % organically, with the bottom of the curve reached in Q2. While taking care of our customers in this very special period, our close to 110 000 colleagues around the world have achieved an outstanding commercial performance, with an Order Entry increased by close to 10% year-on-year. We signed in Q2 several large contracts encompassing Digital, Cloud and Security. Last but not least, the pipeline strongly increased by € 1.2bn, with customers progressively focusing on front-end transformation, Full Stack Cloud migration and Employee Experience while the demand also accelerates in Business Critical Applications, Digital Security as well as Decarbonization.”
