(News Bulletin 247) – Sopra Steria is falling on the Paris Stock Exchange after the announcement of the departure of its general director at Alten, whose stock is growing on the Paris market.

A game of musical chairs for SBF 120 companies which have announced several changes in their governance. Including Sopra Steria which announced Wednesday evening after the close of the markets the departure of its general director, Cyril Malargé, who chose “to pursue a new opportunity”.

The company indicates that it has initiated a process to appoint a new general manager and that the transition will be ensured by a tight team grouped around its operations director.

The IT services group took advantage of this announcement to renew its 2025 objectives, as they were recalled at the end of July. The company is targeting organic growth (on a comparable basis) in turnover between -2.5 and +0.5%, an operating margin rate between 9.3 and 9.8%, and a net free cash flow between 5 and 7% of sales.

From Sopra Steria to Alten

The mystery surrounding Cyril Malargé’s future base did not last very long. The new ex-manager of Sopra Steria will continue his professional adventure at… Alten.

The engineering and technology consulting group announced the appointment of Cyril Malargé as general manager at the same time as it signaled a change in its governance, with a separation of the functions of president and general manager. Alten explains that these decisions will take effect no later than January 31, 2026.

Alten explains that its current Chairman and CEO, Simon Azoulay, will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alten and will support Cyril Malargé in taking up his position.

“In view of our very positive opinion regarding the achievements of Cyril Malargé at Sopra Steria, we welcome this announcement very positively at Alten,” say analysts at Invest Securities.

The Stock Exchange fully shares the opinion of the research office based on the stock market movements of the two securities. On the Paris Stock Exchange, Sopra Steria was penalized by the departure of its manager and fell by 3.7% while Alten rose by 1.3% around 12:30 p.m. with the arrival of Cyril Malargé at its head.

A group strengthened by acquisitions

Sopra Steria has changed its face with the arrival of Cyril Malargé at the head of the company in 2022, strengthening itself through acquisitions in defense and cybersecurity.

His mandate was in fact marked by a rise in external growth operations, particularly in 2023, a year during which the group was voracious in acquisitions with the takeover of the French group CS Group from the Dutch Ordina. At the end of 2022, the group had already strengthened itself in the Benelux by acquiring the Belgian company Tobiana.

Sopra Steria also refocused its activities, and offloaded Sopra Steria Banking to Axway Software; this banking software activity was no longer at the heart of its strategic priorities.

“The group’s ambition is to become, in the face of global players, a real European alternative, particularly on the issues of digital sovereignty, for major European clients in its strategic markets,” Sopra Steria argued when announcing this sale project.

Cyril Malargé’s record would therefore have hit the mark with Alten, which is in bad shape and whose stock has lost more than 20% over one year. The engineering and technology consulting group is exposed to the automotive and civil aeronautics sectors, where manufacturers, faced with pressures on demand and prices, have had to cut their budgets.

In September, the company revealed declining half-year results, marked by the sharp decline, of 15%, in its activities in the automotive sector. Profitability and cash generation, however, came out better than expected, which positively surprised investors.

Alten had also confirmed its 2025 objectives, as announced at the end of July during the publication of the half-yearly activity update. The engineering group still anticipates a decline in its turnover of between -5.2% and -5.5% and an operating margin of activity which should be between 8% and 8.1%, with an “unchanged economic environment”.

Alten’s indications for 2025 suggest an organic decline in activity between -4.8% and -5.4% and an operating margin of 8.7% in the second half, noted Oddo BHF.