by Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) – IT consultancy Atos, which plans to split into two publicly traded entities, said on Wednesday it expects revenue from its loss-making Tech Foundations unit to hit a 2024 low. , before returning to growth in 2026.

According to Atos, which is holding an investor day on Wednesday, Tech Foundations – which regroups its former IT consulting activities – will reach “a floor in 2024, at around 5 billion euros, with growth in core business turnover of 0% to 2%”.

The Atos title, which has lost nearly 45% of its value in one year, fell by 1.27% at 07:50 GMT on the Paris Stock Exchange, after having taken up 3.36% at the start of the session.

Atos, which houses assets deemed strategic by the French government, is struggling to regain investor confidence after several setbacks, heavy losses and sharp stock market fluctuations precipitated by governance instability that led it to propose a split plan.

This plan calls for separating Tech Foundations from Eviden, which includes Atos’ most coveted assets, such as the BDS cybersecurity division and supercomputers.

Tech Foundations’ operating margin is expected to reach between 6% and 8% in 2026, while free cash flow before interest and taxes is expected to turn positive in 2025 and to exceed €250 million in 2026, Atos said in a statement. .

Nourdine Bihmane, deputy managing director, told a press conference that the split plan was close to being completed in the main countries.

The sale of 700 million euros of assets, considered essential to fund the company’s recovery plan, is almost complete, he added.

About 20% of the strategic plan, worth 1.2 billion euros, which involves the dismissal of around 7,500 people, has been carried out, said Nourdine Bihmane.

(Report Mathieu Rosemain, Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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