The group, whose turnover fell by 2.5% over the period (at constant exchange rates), forecasts a slight improvement in 2022, with a change in sales of between -0.5% and +1, 5% (at constant exchange rate).

The new general manager Rodolphe Belmer indicated that he now hoped to have emptied the abscess, and to see the group return to better results in 2022.

"I am totally convinced that we now have a solid base and that we have all the cards in hand to improve our performance," he said, indicating that 2022 would be a "pivotal year" for the group. "paving the way for a recovery driven by an ambitious plan".

Atos (109,000 employees) led for more than ten years by Thierry Breton before he became European Commissioner in October 2019, has been in a bad financial and stock market situation for several months.

The former CEO of Atos, Thierry Breton, during an inauguration on September 19, 2019 in Angers ERIC PIERMONT AFP / Archives

Elie Girard, the former chief financial officer appointed chief executive after the departure of Mr. Breton, was pushed out in October 2021, after two years in office.

Rodolphe Belmer, who until then headed Eutelsat, took over the reins of the company in early January.

During February, after announcing a record depreciation of assets, Mr. Belmer also announced a simplification of the governance of Atos.

Atos CEO Rodolphe Belmer on February 16, 2022 in Paris Eric PIERMONT AFP / Archives

The company has returned to an organization with three business lines, Tech Foundations (the group's traditional outsourcing activities), Digital (services around the cloud, decarbonization and digital) and Big Data & Security (BDS, cybersecurity and high performance servers).

For 2022, the company expects an operating margin (profitability indicator) to recover slightly (between 3 and 5%, compared to 2.5% in 2021).

Cash flow should be between -150 and +200 million euros, compared to -419 million euros in 2021, and +513 million euros in 2020.

Atos' difficulties are often explained by its delay in taking the turn to the cloud (dematerialized computing), which replaces its traditional outsourcing activities (outsourced computing), and by a forced and poorly digested external growth during the Breton years.

Atos shares have lost 50% of their value over the past year.

© 2022 AFP