Atos: 2020 annual results

Record high bookings

All 2020 objectives achieved

Order entry at € 13,330 million, +10% year-on-year at constant currency
Book to bill ratio at 119% (excl. € 3 billion Siemens renewal) with Q4 at 130%

Revenue at € 11,181 million, -3.0% organically thanks to a resilient business model
Progressive recovery from Q2 as planned
Cloud, Digital, Security & Decarbonization at 46% of revenue (40% in 2019)

Operating margin at € 1,002 million
9.0% of revenue fueled by strong actions on costs (10.1% in 2019)

Free cash flow at € 513 million

Net income Group share at € 550 million, normalized diluted EPS at € 6.65

10 acquisitions accelerating Group transformation

2021 objectives: Return to growth
and a clear path towards mid-term targets

Paris, February 18, 2021: Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today announces its FY 2020 results.

Elie Girard, CEO, comments: "In the last quarter of 2020 and in spite of a lengthy Covid crisis, the very strong commercial dynamism of the Group led to record high bookings for the full year. I want to thank my 105,000 colleagues who have taken care of our customers so diligently all the year, while reaching all our objectives for the full year set as early as April. In particular, revenue has been recovering across the second semester, we have implemented a structural cost program, and cash generation has remained strong.

This achievement is the result of the Group’s acceleration to set a lasting foundation for growth at a time when all companies need to move on their digital journey: reshaping our offering, our go-to-market, and our operating model through our Spring program; launching our industry leading offer Atos OneCloud; strengthening our Digital Security and Decarbonization business lines; pursuing our bolt-on acquisitions with 10 transactions during the year in Digital, Cloud, Security and Decarbonization; and confirming our leading position in rising technologies like quantum.

The Group has also quickly moved forward on all Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) dimensions – diversity at all levels, digital inclusion, ethics by design, dramatic reduction of carbon intensity – making sure all initiatives are embedded in our daily business, the only way to achieve true sustainability. At the same time, we are proud to announce the advancement of our Net Zero carbon emission objective to 2028, reinforcing our #1 position in that field worldwide.

All actions of the Group are focused on our growth agenda and mid-term targets to enhance shareholder value. With that regard, the objectives we set today for 2021 mark a year of rebound on track with our mid-term plan.”

2020 Key financial figures

Atos consolidated and statutory financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, were approved by the Board of Directors on February 17, 2021. Audit procedures are in progress.

Revenue was € 11,181 million, -3.0% organically and -2.3% at constant currency. In the context of the Covid-19 crisis and regular restrictions and lockdowns in most of the countries where the Group operates, revenue decrease was limited thanks to the resilient profile of our business model. Indeed, the Group benefited from strong demand in Cloud migrations, Digital Workplace solutions to enable people to work from home, and Big Data & Cybersecurity services. Conversely, the revenue was impacted by application project postponement as well as less fertilization on existing contracts.

Operating margin was € 1,002 million, representing 9.0% of revenue, compared to 10.1% in 2019 at constant scope and exchange rates. The Group achieved the bottom of the range of its objective set as soon as April 2020 at the beginning of the Covid crisis, and before its extension throughout the year and further lockdowns and restrictions.

Normalized net income Group share reached € 725 million and Net income Group share was € 550 million.

Free cash flow reached € 513 million compared to € 605 million in 2019 (excluding € +37 million of one-off related to the Optional Exchangeable Bond - OEB).

Net debt was € 467 million compared to € 1,736 million at the end of 2019. Assuming the full conversion of the OEB, the Group was net debt free as of December 31, 2020.

2021 objectives

In 2021, the Group targets the following objectives for its 3 key financial criteria, based on the current macroeconomic scenario of a progressive recovery over the year:

• Revenue growth at constant currency: +3.5% to +4.0%
• Operating margin rate: +40 to 80bps versus 2020
• Free cash flow: €550m to €600m

2020 performance by Industry

Manufacturing reported a revenue of € 2,010 million, -9.6% organically. New business started with a large German automotive manufacturer, increasing activity with Beverage customers, and new Digital Workplace projects in North America allowed to limit the impact of the global economic context. The Industry was impacted in Automotive, Aerospace and Industrial Services sectors, especially in Southern Europe, North America and Central Europe, while the Industry was also impacted by lower volumes with Siemens, mainly in North America. Although strong actions were performed all along the year, the volume reductions led to an operating margin at € 67 million, representing 3.3% of revenue.

Financial Services & Insurance revenue was € 2,116 million, -3.6% organically. The Industry successfully ramped-up a large insurance contract in the United Kingdom. The Industry was impacted by several banking institutions which have postponed and reduced discretionary expenses. Operating margin was € 261 million, representing 12.3% of revenue. Despite lower revenue generation, the Industry benefitted from the strong contribution of Syntel activities and cost synergies, as well as from cost saving actions.

Public Sector & Defense recorded a revenue at € 2,565 million, +7.5% organically. This performance was driven by Northern Europe, led by a large Big Data project with a weather forecast institution, higher volumes with European Union Institutions in Cloud solutions, and a strong activity with various government agencies. Central Europe also contributed to this growth thanks to several projects in Big Data and the ramp-up of a new project in Germany. Growing Markets revenue also increased despite the impact of the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Operating margin reached € 259 million, representing 10.1% of revenue.

Telecom, Media & Technology revenue reached € 1,574 million, -5.3% organically. The Industry generated a strong performance in Digital projects, Cloud services, and Digital Workplace solutions, more particularly in Northern Europe and in North America. The Industry was impacted by legacy Unified Communication & Collaboration, as well as project postponements. Operating margin remained roughly stable at € 134 million, representing 8.5% of revenue.

Resources & Services revenue reached € 1,627 million, -8.7% organically. Energy & Utilities generated growth, particularly in North America in Digital Workplace, and in Growing Markets with new Big Data projects. The situation with customers operating in Retail & Transportation was very challenging in the context of Covid crisis. Operating margin reached € 121 million, representing 7.4% of revenue. Despite the drastic cost saving plan initiated as soon as Q2, the margin was strongly impacted by the revenue effect in the sub-Industries that are the most affected by the pandemic such as Transportation, Hospitality and non-food Retail.

Healthcare & Life Sciences revenue was € 1,288 million, growing by +0.7% organically. In Central Europe, the Industry was fueled by the ramp-up of Digital Workplace contracts. Similarly, the Industry benefited from a strong activity in Digital and Big Data in Southern Europe and in Growing Markets. North America was fueled by contract ramp-ups, although product sales performed last year were not repeated. The situation was more challenging in Northern Europe. Operating margin was € 160 million, representing 12.4% of revenue and almost at the level of last year on a like-for-like basis.

2020 performance by Regional Business Unit

Most of the geographies progressively recovered during the second half of the year with a slightly better economic environment in particular for Application projects. Indeed, businesses such as Digital Workplace solutions, Cloud transformation, Big Data and Digital Security supported this trajectory. In North America, revenue organic evolution did not improve in Q4 due to non-repeatable sales last year.

Operating margin reached 9.0% of revenue representing € 1,002 million. The strong cost actions implemented as soon as Q2 have well mitigated the revenue effect in most of the geographies. The situation remained challenging in Central Europe due to the lack of flexibility in labor costs as well as some one-offs on difficult contracts in H1.

Commercial activity

The commercial dynamism of the Group was particularly high in 2020 with order entry reaching € 13.3 billion, representing a book to bill ratio of 119% compared to 106% in 2019 at constant exchange rates.

During the fourth quarter, the book to bill reached 130%. The main wins included deals with Primetals (Manufacturing), National Employment Savings Trust (Financial Services & Insurance), Dutch Ministry of Defense (Public Sector & Defense), Windtre (Telecom, Media & Technology) and Guys & St Thomas' (Healthcare & Life Sciences).

The main new deals signed in 2020 included large contracts with a German specialized manufacturer (Manufacturing), with Willis Administrative Services Corp (Financial Services & Insurance), with a Ministry of Industry (Public Sector & Defense), and with Goli (Resources & Services).

Main contract renewals were concluded with Siemens for € 3 billion over 5 years, with a large Application Management contract in the Automotive sector (Manufacturing), with the European Commission and the Texas Department of Information Resources (Public Sector & Defense), and with Conduent (Telecom, Media & Technology).

Full backlog increased to € 23.7 billion from € 21.7 billion at the end of 2019, representing almost 2.1 years of revenue. The full qualified pipeline reached € 9.0 billion compared to € 7.3 billion at the end of 2019.

Operating income and net income

Operating income reached € +650 million in 2020, compared to € +660 million in 2019, resulting from the following items:

Staff reorganization amounted to € -127 million with the acceleration of the adaptation of the Group workforce in several countries and in particular in Germany. The increase in 2020 came mostly from specific measures in other European countries.

Rationalization costs were € -36 million roughly stable compared to 2019, and primarily resulting from the closure of office premises and data center consolidation, mostly in France.

Integration and acquisition costs amounted to € -42 million, roughly stable compared to 2019. They were mainly related to the integration costs of Syntel to generate synergies.

€ -153 million were recorded as Purchase Price Allocation amortization, at the level of 2019, the main item being € -65 million for Syntel customer relationships and technologies.

Equity-based compensation plans amounted to € -74 million in 2020, at the same level as in the previous year.

Other items amounted to € -125 million in 2019 and reached € +80 million in 2020 including the following exceptional items:

• The transaction in February 2020 on Worldline shares had an impact of € +171 million (after transaction costs) as follows:
  • The Accelerated Bookbuilding Offering (ABO) of Worldline shares on the market at a share price of € 61.5 led to a net gain on disposal, before tax, of € +120 million, including the derecognition of the intangible assets generated by the Worldline purchase price allocation in May 2019 upon the loss of control over Worldline and while Wordline was accounted for under the equity method;
  • The retained interest of Atos in Worldline group (c. 3.8%) was valued at the fair value at the disposal date, resulting in an additional profit of € +54 million presented as a net gain on disposal.
• The remaining other items mainly included other long-term employee benefits in Germany, France and the UK, unusual impacts from settlements and a limited number of bankruptcies. They also included costs to implement on transformation programs.

Net financial expense significantly decreased from € -208 million in 2019 to € -51 million for the period and was composed of a net cost of financial debt of € -33 million and non-operational financial costs of € -18 million. In 2020, the Group recorded a net gain of € +56 million related to the net revaluation of the EOB derivative and the underlying 3.8% Worldline stake, both measured at fair value. In 2019, the Group booked a loss of € -54 million only related to the OEB derivative as Worldline stake was accounted in 2019 for under the equity method from May 2019 to December 2019 and therefore was not measured at fair value through profit & loss.

The tax charge was € -51 million corresponding to an annualized Effective Tax Rate (ETR) of 8.6% including the impact of the Worldline shares transaction.

Non-controlling interests amount to € -3 million at the same level as in the previous year.

Share of net profit of associates accounted for under equity method amounted to € +5 million in 2020 compared to € +47 million in 2019. This decrease reflects the change in accounting for Worldline shares pursuant to the ABO in February 2020 (from equity method to financial asset measured at fair value).

As a result, the Group reported a net income Group share of € +550 million for 2020, representing 4.9% of Group revenue.

Both basic EPS Group share and diluted EPS Group share were at € 5.05.

The normalized net income Group share excluding unusual, abnormal and infrequent items (net of tax) amounted to € +725 million, representing 6.5% of Group revenue for the period, compared to € +834 million (from continuing operations), representing 7.2% of Group revenue in 2019.

Both normalized basic EPS and normalized diluted EPS were at € 6.65 in 2020, compared to € 7.74 in 2019 (from continuing operations).

Free cash flow

Operating Margin before Depreciation and Amortization (OMDA) was € +1,661 million representing 14.9% of revenue, compared to 15.5% in 2019.

Reorganization, rationalization and associated costs, and integration and acquisition costs reached € -191 million compared to € -173 million in 2019.

Capital expenditures amounted to € -320 million, representing 2.9% of revenue compared to 2.8% in 2019.

The change in working capital requirement was € -63 million from € -130 million in 2019. The DSO ratio reached 46 days compared to 47 days at the end of December 2019. The level of trade receivables sold with no recourse to banks with transfer of risks as defined by IFRS 9 remained at the same level as at the end of December 31, 2019.

Cash out related to tax paid reached € -113 million compared to € -99 million in 2019.

The cost of net debt decreased to € -33 million compared to € -64 million in 2019 mainly explained by the early redemption of the € 600 million bond in April 2020, and the full reimbursement in November 2019 of the $ 1,900 million term loan used to fund the Syntel acquisition.

Finally, other changes amounted to € -66 million, compared to € -25 million in 2019. Adjusted from the positive one-off item of € +37 million related to the issuance of the OEB (derivative instrument net of fees) in 2019, other changes are stable compared to 2019.

As a result, free cash flow reached € 513 million compared to € 605 million achieved in 2019 (excluding € +37 million of one-off item related to the OEB).

Net cash evolution

Net acquisitions / disposals in 2020 amounted to € +932 million compared to € +625 in 2019 and originated mainly from the ABO of Worldline shares on the market for € +1,402 million, net of costs of disposal and tax, reduced by the consideration paid on the acquisitions of the year, mainly Maven Wave, EcoAct, Paladion and Digital Security.

Capital increases totaled € +36 million in 2020. This is mainly explained by the shares issued in connection with the Group shareholding programs for employees, Share 2020 in 2020.

In 2020 the Group performed share buy-backs for € -45 million compared to € -113 million in 2019. These share buy-back programs are related to the delivery of long-term incentive plans and aim at avoiding dilution for the shareholders. The decrease is due to the fact that, in 2019, Atos had to acquire shares for two performance share plans instead of the usual one (performance share plan 2016 with 3-year vesting and performance share plan 2015 with 4.5-year vesting.

In the context of the Covid-19 crisis, the Group decided not to distribute any dividend to the owners of the parent. In 2019, the distribution amounted to € -55 million in cash (as option in shares was significantly taken up).

Foreign exchange rate fluctuation effect on debt or cash in foreign currencies totaled € -162 million, mainly coming from the exchange rate of the US Dollar and Indian Rupee against the Euro.

As a result, the Group’s net debt position as of end 2020 was € -467 million compared to € -1,736 million at the end of 2019. This includes the OEB for € 500 million while the Group still owns 3.8% of Worldline shares which are exchangeable at maturity of the OEB. Assuming the full conversion of the OEB, the Group was net debt free as of end 2020.

Human resources

The total headcount was 104,430 at the end of December 2020, down by -2.4% compared to 106,980 at the end of June 2020 and by -3.6% compared to December 2019. During the year, the Group welcomed 1,837 new employees from acquisitions.

Excluding this scope effect, the staff decreased by -5.4% taking into account Covid-19 crisis and accompanying and anticipating the effect of automation and robotization. During the full year of 2020, the Group hired 11,800 staff, compared to 18,520 in 2019. Hiring has been mainly achieved in offshore/nearshore countries such as India and Poland. Attrition rate was 10.9% at Group level (15.1% in full year 2019), of which 14.9% in offshore/nearshore countries.

Acquisitions

In line with its mid-term plan, the Group completed 10 bolt-on acquisitions in 2020. All of them belong to the targeted areas of the Group for bolt-on acquisitions:

• Digital, through the acquisitions of Miner & Kasch, Alia Consulting and Eagle Creek;
• Cloud, with the purchase of Maven Wave and Edifixio;
• Security, with the acquisitions of Paladion, digital.security, SEC Consult and Motiv;
• Decarbonization, with EcoAct.

The 10 acquisitions have been all self-financed. They represented a total revenue amount above 300 million euros (2019 revenue). These companies will support the Business Mix improvement ambitioned by the Group to reach 65% of its mid-term revenue on Digital, Cloud, Security and Decarbonization.

Dividend

During its meeting held on February 17, 2021, the Board of Directors decided to propose to the next Annual General Meeting the payment in 2021 of a dividend on the 2020 results of € 0.90 per share. This amount represents a 29% pay-out on net income Group share which has been adjusted for non-recurring accounting impacts in 2020 related to the Worldline shares and OEB derivative. The adjustments represented -207 million euros net of tax. This ordinary dividend would be paid in May 2021.

Appendix

Revenue and operating margin at constant scope and exchange rates reconciliation

Scope effects amounted to €+86 million for revenue and €-7 million for operating margin. They are mainly related to:

• the acquisitions consolidated either in Q4 2019 (IDnomic, X-PERION) or in the course of 2020 (Maven Wave, Miner & Kasch, Alia Consulting, Paladion, digital.security, EcoAct, and Edifixio) for a total amount of €+149 million for revenue and €+9 million for operating margin;
• the disposal of some specific Unified Communication & Collaboration activities as well as former ITO activities in the UK at the beginning of H2 2019, and the disposal and decommissioning of non-strategic activities within CVC, for a total amount of €-63 million for revenue and €-16 million for operating margin.

Currency exchange rate effects negatively contributed to revenue for €-145 million and to operating margin for €-20 million. They mostly came from the depreciation of the American dollar, the Brazilian real and the Pound sterling against the Euro over the period.

2020 revenue performance by Division

Q4 2020 revenue performance by Industry, Regional Business Unit and Division

Conference call

Today, Thursday, February 18, 2021, the Group will hold a conference call in English at 08:00 am (CET - Paris), chaired by Elie Girard, CEO, in order to comment on Atos’ FY 2020 results and to answer questions from the financial community.

Please connect:

• on atos.net, in the Investors section
• by smartphone or tablet through the scan of:
• by telephone with the dial-in, 10 minutes prior the starting time. Please note that if you want to join the webcast by telephone, you must register in advance of the conference using the following link:

http://emea.directeventreg.com/registration/1448719
Upon registration, you will be provided with Participant Dial In Numbers, a Direct Event Passcode and a unique Registrant ID. Call reminders will also be sent via email the day prior to the event.
During the 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the call, you will need to use the conference access information provided in the email received upon registration.

After the conference, a replay of the webcast will be available in the Investor section on atos.net.

Forthcoming events

April 20, 2021             First quarter 2021 revenue
May 12, 2021               Annual General Meeting
July 28, 2021               First semester 2021 results
October 21, 2021        Third quarter 2021 revenue

Contacts

Investor Relations:               Gilles Arditti                 +33 1 73 26 00 66
                                                                                    gilles.arditti@atos.net

Media:                                    Sylvie Raybaud            +33 6 95 91 96 71
                                                                                   sylvie.raybaud@atos.net

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 105,000 employees and annual revenue of over € 11 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high performance computing, the group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 71 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos operates under the brands Atos and Atos|Syntel. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.

Disclaimers

This document contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including references, concerning the Group's expected growth and profitability in the future which may significantly impact the expected performance indicated in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are linked to factors out of the control of the Company and not precisely estimated, such as market conditions or competitors behaviors. Any forward-looking statements made in this document are statements about Atos’ beliefs and expectations and should be evaluated as such. Forward-looking statements include statements that may relate to Atos’ plans, objectives, strategies, goals, future events, future revenues or synergies, or performance, and other information that is not historical information. Actual events or results may differ from those described in this document due to a number of risks and uncertainties that are described in the 2019 Universal Registration Document filed with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on March 3, 2020 under the registration number D.20-0096 and the Amendment to the 2019 Universal Registration Document filed with the AMF on July 30, 2020 under number D.20-0096-A01. Atos does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation or responsibility to update or amend any of the information above except as otherwise required by law. This document does not contain or constitute an offer of Atos’ shares for sale or an invitation or inducement to invest in Atos’ shares in France, the United States of America or any other jurisdiction.

Atos consolidated and statutory financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, were approved by the Board of Directors on February 17, 2021. Audit procedures are in progress.

Revenue organic growth is presented at constant scope and exchange rates.

Industries include Manufacturing (Aerospace, Automotive, Chemicals, Consumer Packaged Goods (Food & Beverage), Discrete Manufacturing, Process Industries, Services and Siemens), Financial Services & Insurance (Insurance, Banking & Financial Services, and Business Transformation Services), Public Sector & Defense (Defense, Education, Extraterritorial Organizations, Public Administration, Public Community Services and Major Events), Telecom, Media & Technology (High Tech & Engineering, Media, and Telecom), Resources & Services (Energy, Retail, Transportation & Hospitality, and Utilities) and Healthcare & Life Sciences (Healthcare and Pharmaceutical).

Regional Business Units include North America (USA, Canada, Guatemala and Mexico), Northern Europe (United Kingdom & Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Belarus, Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, and Sweden), Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Israel, and Switzerland), Southern Europe (France, Andorra, Spain, Portugal, and Italy) and Growing Markets including Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand), South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Peru), Middle East & Africa (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey and UAE), Major Events, Global Cloud Hub, and Global Delivery Centers.

¹ 2019 at constant scope and exchange rates
² from continuing operations
³ 2019 excluding € +37 million of one-off related to the Optional Exchangeable Bond (OEB)

Attachment

• Atos - FY 2020 results