French tech seller Atos had a rough start to the year, with its cash flow taking a hit in several big departments. Eviden saw a 3.9 per cent dip, and Tech Foundations wasn’t far behind with a 1.5 per cent drop.
Overall, the company’s earnings were down by 2.6 per cent, which works out to about £2.15 million
Atos reckons the slump in Eviden’s cash was due to things being quiet in the Americas, leading to a 7.5 percent fall-off, and the UK wasn’t exactly buzzing either.
Tech Foundations’ revenue took a tumble because they were doing less business with some of their customers in the Americas and Central Europe.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom. The company’s operating margin stayed steady at 1.9 per cent, or about £41.28 million, even though its net debt shot up to a whopping £3.35 billion. That’s mainly because they weren’t as busy with their working capital stuff as in December 2023.
When it comes to making money from what they sell, the group’s operating margin has gone down to 1.9 per cent from last year’s 3.3 per cent. Eviden’s hanging in there at 1.9 per cent, and Tech Foundations is just a smidge better at two per cent.
CEO Paul Saleh admitted things were tough but said he had plans to turn things around. The first order of business will be to refinance some of their debt that’s due soon, and they’re tweaking their business strategy for the next few years to get back on track.
When it comes to Atos splitting up, the first quarter results are just the latest bump in what’s been a pretty rocky year for the Paris-based company.
Its operating income took a nosedive in the second quarter of 2023, which didn’t do its stock any favours.
In August, they tried to offload Tech Foundations to this investment group run by a Czech billionaire, Daniel Křetínský. But come February 2024, the deal was off because they couldn’t settle on the money side of things.
Atos did manage to sell its communications division, Unify, to its competitor, Mitel, last October.
