Atos warns on profits again, shares tumble

Atos shares tumbled on Monday after the French technology consulting company warned on profits for the second time in seven months.

The firm said the objectives it set out in July will not be met, citing - among other things - a delay to 2022 of final agreements with several large customers to get compensated for extra work performed in 2021, and lower margins in its hardware and software resale segment in December.

The group now expects revenue in 2021 to have fallen by around 2.4% at constant currency to €10.8bn, versus previous guidance for "stable" revenue. It also expects operating margin to be around 4% of revenue in 2021 versus previous guidance of around 6%.

In addition, it estimated free cash flow at -€420m, having previously said it would be "positive".

Chief executive officer Rodolphe Belmer said: "I joined the company last week, at the time when the figures were being collected and consolidated. The current state of financial insight leads us to the obligation to issue a profit warning today due to the significant variance in the financial KPIs.

"However, most of the items underlying this severe gap are non-recurring. In particular, the large gap in free cash flow mostly stems from working capital. I am convinced that the company has the necessary assets and all the talents to operate a swift turnaround. In this context, I will present at the end of February a new organisation to the board of directors, and in Q2 a plan that will demonstrate the drivers of this turnaround and the focus on profitable growth and value creation."

At 0900 GMT, the shares were down 16.3% at €32.31.