Total Growth of 13.0%
- Robust organic growth1 in Group revenue: 8.9%
- Substantial acceleration in France: Organic growth of 11.4%
(vs 7.5% in Q2 2021)
- Major recruitment campaign: 3,710 new employees hired during
the quarter
- Workforce grew by 1.5% relative to 30 June 2021, including
10.2% growth in India
- Acquisition of an IT design consultancy firm in
Scandinavia
Regulatory News:
Sopra Steria Group (Paris:SOP) generated consolidated revenue
of €1,116.1 million in the third quarter of 2021, representing
total growth of 13.0%. At constant scope and exchange rates,
revenue grew 8.9%.
Sopra Steria: Consolidated revenue – Q3
2021 €m / % Q3 2021 Q3
2020 Organicgrowth Totalgrowth Revenue
1,116.1
987.6
8.9%
13.0%
Vincent Paris, Chief Executive Officer of Sopra Steria Group,
commented:
“Sopra Steria turned in a very good quarter, bringing us solidly
back in line with the business levels prevailing before the Covid
crisis in 2020. Given this context, we have confirmed our
performance improvement targets for financial year 2021. We
achieved robust revenue growth in Q3 2021 and we succeeded in
substantially increasing the number of new hires. These trends
reflect strong market dynamics, buoyed by the digital
transformation of companies and public-sector organisations. They
also show that the Group is well-positioned to benefit, across all
its geographies and its vertical markets, from strong demand from
its clients for solutions geared toward cloud migration, automation
of digitalised processes and cybersecurity. More specifically, we
recently announced our aim of significantly boosting our firepower
in cybersecurity. Our planned acquisition of EVA Group should
enable us to position Sopra Steria as one of France’s top three
players in this critical market for our clients, which holds major
medium-term potential. Today we also announced our plans to acquire
EGGS Design, an IT design consultancy firm based in Scandinavia, to
expand our consulting activities.”
Comments on Q3 2021 business activity
Revenue totalled €1,116.1 million, an increase of 13.0%
relative to Q3 2020. Changes in scope had a positive impact of
€24.6 million, and currency fluctuations had a positive impact of
€13.0 million. At constant scope and exchange rates, revenue grew
8.9%.
Revenue for France (38% of the Group total) was €427.6
million. Organic growth came to 11.4%, compared with 7.5% for the
previous quarter. This performance reflected more rapid revenue
growth in consulting (11% vs 6% in Q2), systems integration (10% vs
8%), infrastructure management (5% vs stable revenue) and product
life cycle management (44% vs 26%). The best-performing vertical
markets were aeronautics, defence, transport and telecoms/media.
With this surge in business activity, the pace of hiring picked up:
854 new employees were hired in Q3, compared with an average of 690
new hires per quarter in the first half of the year.
Revenue for the United Kingdom (19% of the Group total)
was €213.2 million. Organic growth remained high at 15.4%. The two
joint ventures specialising in business process management for the
public sector (NHS SBS and SSCL) continued to see strong growth,
thanks to significant ongoing investments by the UK government in
the field of homeland security. Growth remained very brisk in the
rest of the public sector, due in particular to strong, steady
momentum in the visa renewal service provided for the government.
The private sector, meanwhile, contracted at the same pace as in
the first half of the year.
The Other Europe reporting unit (28% of the Group total)
posted €311.3 million in revenue, representing organic growth of
6.0%. The countries in the reporting unit (excluding Sopra
Financial Technology) recorded robust organic revenue growth
(averaging 9.6%). The strongest growth was achieved in Belgium,
Scandinavia and Italy. As part of the transformation programme for
the Sparda banks in Germany, Sopra Financial Technology (SFT, the
joint venture that operates the shared information system) recorded
€43.3 million in revenue, contracting in line with the business
plan.
Revenue for Sopra Banking Software (10% of the Group
total) came to €104.8 million, an organic contraction of 2.0%.
Services revenue (40% of the total) was stable. Software revenue
(60% of the total) was down 4.5% due to a particularly unfavourable
base effect for its licences activity (as licences in Q3 2020 had
seen 48% growth). Product developments continued and the
transformation of the reporting unit’s R&D department entered
the implementation phase.
Revenue for the Other Solutions reporting unit (5% of the
Group total) came to €59.2 million, two-thirds of which was
attributable to human resources solutions and the remaining third
to property management solutions. The quarter saw a return to the
business levels prevailing in 2019, with organic growth of 6.0%.
Investments continued in parallel in order to step up the
digitisation of solutions and fuel growth.
Workforce
In a very buoyant market, the pace of hiring picked up
significantly starting in early 2021. In the first nine months of
2021, nearly 8,000 new employees joined the Group, with more than
3,700 of them joining during the third quarter alone.
At the end of Q3 2021, the Group’s workforce totalled 46,799
people, with 18.5% working in X-Shore zones (compared with 46,129
people at 30 June 2021 and 45,960 at 31 December 2020).
External growth transactions
On 12 October 2021, Sopra Steria announced that it had signed an
exclusive negotiation agreement with EVA Group, a French
cybersecurity firm with forecast revenue of around €33 million in
2021. This transaction is a key step toward positioning Sopra
Steria as one of the top three players in the French cybersecurity
market. The acquisition could be completed in Q4 2021.
Today Sopra Steria also announced its plans to acquire EGGS
Design, a rapidly growing, multi-disciplinary design and innovation
consultancy with forecast revenue of around €14 million in 2021.
The company currently employs around 120 creative people who assist
their clients craft new products, services and drive business
transformation – in particular related to digital and sustainable
transformation. EGGS works holistically with design ensuring that
human insights play well together with technology, brand and
business. EGGS Design has locations in Norway’s four biggest cities
(Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger) as well as in Denmark
(Copenhagen). The acquisition is expected to be completed in Q1
2022.
Reminder of targets for 2021 announced on 29 July
2021
- Organic revenue growth greater than or equal to 6%
- Operating margin on business activity of between 7.7% and
8.0%
- Free cash flow of between €150m and €200m
Presentation meeting
Revenue for the third quarter of 2021 will be presented to
financial analysts and investors via a bilingual (French and
English) conference call to be held on Friday, 29 October 2021 at
8:00 a.m. CET (Paris time).
- French-language phone number: +33 (0)1 70
71 01 59 – PIN: 52023884# - English-language phone number: +44
(0)207 194 37 59 – PIN: 43742680#
Practical information about this presentation can be found in
the ‘Investors’ section of the Group’s website:
https://www.soprasteria.com/investors
Financial calendar
Thursday, 24 February 2022 (9 a.m.): Meeting to report 2021
annual results
Friday, 29 April 2022 (8 a.m.): Meeting to report Q1 2022
revenue
Wednesday, 1 June 2022 (2:30 p.m.): General Meeting of
Shareholders
Thursday, 28 July 2022 (9 a.m.): Meeting to report 2022
half-year results
Friday, 28 October 2022 (8 a.m.): Meeting to report Q3 2022
revenue
Glossary
- Restated revenue: Revenue
for the prior year, expressed on the basis of the scope and
exchange rates for the current year.
- Organic revenue growth:
Increase in revenue between the period under review and restated
revenue for the same period in the prior financial year.
- EBITDA: This measure, as
defined in the Universal Registration Document, is equal to
consolidated operating profit on business activity after adding
back depreciation, amortisation and provisions included in
operating profit on business activity.
- Operating profit on business
activity: This measure, as defined in the Universal
Registration Document, is equal to profit from recurring operations
adjusted to exclude the share-based payment expense for stock
options and free shares and charges to amortisation of allocated
intangible assets.
- Profit from recurring
operations: This measure is equal to operating profit
before other operating income and expenses, which includes any
particularly significant items of operating income and expense that
are unusual, abnormal, infrequent or not foreseeable, presented
separately in order to give a clearer picture of performance based
on ordinary activities.
- Basic recurring earnings per
share: This measure is equal to basic earnings per share
before other operating income and expenses net of tax.
- Free cash flow: Free cash
flow is defined as the net cash from operating activities; less
investments (net of disposals) in property, plant and equipment,
and intangible assets; less lease payments; less net interest paid;
and less additional contributions to address any deficits in
defined-benefit pension plans.
- Downtime: Number of days
between two contracts (excluding training, sick leave, other leave
and pre-sale) divided by the total number of business days.
Disclaimer
This document contains forward-looking information subject to
certain risks and uncertainties that may affect the Group’s future
growth and financial results. Readers are reminded that licence
agreements, which often represent investments for clients, are
signed in greater numbers in the second half of the year, with
varying impacts on end-of-year performance. Actual outcomes and
results may differ from those described in this document due to
operational risks and uncertainties. More detailed information on
the potential risks that may affect the Group’s financial results
can be found in the 2020 Universal Registration Document filed with
the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on 18 March 2021 (see
pages 35 to 42 in particular). Sopra Steria does not undertake any
obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in
this document beyond what is required by current laws and
regulations. The distribution of this document in certain countries
may be subject to the laws and regulations in force. Persons
physically present in countries where this document is released,
published or distributed should enquire as to any applicable
restrictions and should comply with those restrictions.
About Sopra Steria
Sopra Steria, a European leader in consulting, digital services
and software development, helps its clients drive their digital
transformation and obtain tangible and sustainable benefits. It
provides end-to-end solutions to make large companies and
organisations more competitive by combining in-depth knowledge of a
wide range of business sectors and innovative technologies with a
fully collaborative approach. Sopra Steria places people at the
heart of everything it does and is committed to putting digital to
work for its clients in order to build a positive future for all.
With 46,000 employees in nearly 30 countries, the Group generated
revenue of €4.3 billion in 2020. The world is how we shape
it. Sopra Steria (SOP) is listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment
A) – ISIN: FR0000050809 For more information, visit us at
www.soprasteria.com
Annexes
Sopra Steria: Impact on revenue of changes in scope and exchange
rates – 9M 2021 €m / %
9M 2021
9M 2020
Growth Revenue
3,444.4
3,154.4
+9.2% Changes in exchange rates
23.0
Revenue at constant exchange rates
3,444.4
3,177.4
+8.4% Changes in scope
86.7
Revenue at constant scope and exchange rates
3,444.4
3,264.1
+5.5% Sopra Steria: Changes in exchange rates – 9M
2021 For €1 / % Avg. rate9M
2021 Avg. rate9M 2020 Change Pound sterling
0.864
0.885
+2.5% Norwegian krone
10.228
10.711
+4.7% Swedish krona
10.153
10.558
+4.0% Danish krone
7.437
7.458
+0.3% Swiss franc
1.090
1.068
-2.1%
Sopra Steria: Revenue by reporting unit – 9M
2021 €m / %
9M 2021
9M 2020Restated*
9M 2020
Organicgrowth Totalgrowth France
1,342.4
1,298.2
1,230.0
+3.4% +9.1% United Kingdom
622.1
525.6
513.2
+18.4% +21.2% Other Europe
976.5
940.8
930.8
+3.8% +4.9% Sopra Banking Software
315.3
324.2
305.1
-2.7%
+3.4% Other Solutions
188.1
175.2
175.2
+7.3% +7.3%
Total
3,444.4
3,264.1
3,154.4
+5.5% +9.2% * Revenue at 2021 scope and exchange
rates
Sopra Steria: Revenue by
reporting unit – Q3 2021 €m / %
Q3 2021 Q3 2020Restated* Q3 2020
Organicgrowth Totalgrowth France
427.6
383.9
365.5
+11.4% +17.0% United Kingdom
213.2
184.7
174.7
+15.4% +22.0% Other Europe
311.3
293.8
292.0
+6.0% +6.6% Sopra Banking Software
104.8
106.9
99.6
-2.0%
+5.2% Other Solutions
59.2
55.9
55.9
+6.0% +6.0%
Total
1,116.1
1,025.2
987.6
+8.9% +13.0% * Revenue at 2021 scope and exchange
rates
Sopra Steria: Workforce
breakdown – 30/09/2021 9/30/2021
9/30/2020 France
19,662
20,066
United Kingdom
6,750
6,863
Other Europe
11,257
10,788
Rest of the World
463
506
X-Shore
8,667
8,278
Total
46,799
46,501
1 Alternative performance measures are defined in the glossary
at the end of this document.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211028005998/en/
Investor Relations Olivier Psaume
olivier.psaume@soprasteria.com +33 (0)1 40 67 68 16
Press Relations Caroline Simon (Image 7)
caroline.simon@image7.fr +33 (0)1 53 70 74 65
Sopra Steria (EU:SOP)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Mär 2024 bis Apr 2024
Sopra Steria (EU:SOP)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Apr 2023 bis Apr 2024