French group Atos, official IT partner of Paris 2024, posts several billion euros in net loss

Atos on Tuesday announced a net loss of 3.4 billion euros for the year 2023. But the group wants to remain optimistic.

There is also Atos Red and Bright Red. The French group, the official IT partner of the Paris Games, announced on Tuesday, March 26, a net loss of 3.4 billion euros for the year 2023. A situation that is all the more alarming as it is already reeling under record debt. To the point where Bersi studies “protection” Its strategic activities, which bring together cyber security and supercomputers.

According to the group’s management, which shows a certain optimism despite the worrying financial situation, the existence of Atos is not in danger. A settlement is officially underway with various creditors – including several banks – with hopes of an agreement on restructuring the group’s debt by July. Which clearly means postponement or abandonment of compensation.

Indeed, for the moment, Atos theoretically has to pay off 3.65 billion in loans and bonds by the end of next year. An objective that is a priori untenable. Especially since the group wanted to sell some of its activities to bail itself out but no sale was made.

A plausible debunking

Despite everything, the scenario of the eventual dissolution of Atos remains plausible. It is one supported by Atos’ management which decided last year to separate the group into two separate entities. On the one hand are tech foundations, the historical core of the activity, namely outsourcing and installation of IT systems in companies, which is now losing momentum. Avidon, on the other hand, brings together the activities that are most promising: the cloud but also the BDS entity, which oversees supercomputers and cyber security. Czech billionaire Daniel Kretynsky, who has interests in tech foundations, abandoned the takeover after protracted negotiations. Airbus also dropped the possibility of a takeover of BDS last week, which was estimated to be worth between 1.5 and 1.8 billion euros.

Hence Bersi’s intervention to protect Atos’ strategic activities and the idea of ​​a national solution without further details. That alone would confirm the resumption of these activities and therefore a form of separation with tech foundations. To make matters a little more complicated, Atos’ largest shareholder, One Point Group owner David Leyani, who owns 11% of the capital, has publicly opposed the split and called for a unified Atos. With the support of certain unions including CFE-CGC.

Nothing to worry about, just a few months before the Paris Games, of which Atos is the official IT partner. Atos ensures that it is ready to manage athlete and media accreditation systems, instant dissemination of competition results and even manage a cyber security center with dozens of experts. But the group’s available cash flow, 2.4 billion euros, does not allow it to continue for very long without an agreement with creditors, so hoped by the Olympics. This race against time is such a tough test for Atos.