Regulatory News:
SOPRA GROUP (Paris:SOP)
Total growth: +12.3%
Organic growth: +10.6%
= = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = =
€m
- - - - - -
1st Quarter
- - - - - -
2008
2007
Total
Growth
Organic
Growth1
- - - - - -
- - - - - -
Consulting
11,8
10,8
+ 9,3%
+ 9,3%
- - - - - -
SSI2 France
166,8
146,6
+ 13,8%
+ 11,9%
- - - - - -
SSI Europe
56,2
51,9
+ 8,3%
+ 6,0%
- - - - - -
Axway
33,9
29,9
+ 13,4%
+ 12,3%
- - - - - -
- - - - - -
Group Total
268,7
239,2
+ 12,3%
+ 10,6%
- - - - - -
1 At comparable consolidation scope and
exchange rates.
2 SSI: Systems and Solutions Integration.
Revenue
Sopra Group announces consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2008
of 268.7 million euros. Total and organic growth were +12.3% and +10.6%
respectively. This robust growth, in line with forecasts, was achieved
thanks to strong performance by all of the Group´s
divisions and confirms the relevance of the economic model adopted
by Sopra Group.
Information by division
Consulting (Orga Consultants): revenue was in line with
forecasts at 11.8 million euros, representing an organic growth rate of
+9.3%. The strong order book, particularly in the banking and insurance
sector, permits the Group to anticipate a similar growth rate for the
year as a whole.
SSI France: this division posted revenue of 166.8 million euros
with total growth of +13.8% and organic growth of +11.9% with respect to
the first quarter of the previous year. This excellent performance was
achieved thanks to systems integration and application outsourcing
projects as well as the Group´s software
solutions. Demand remains high in the areas of financial services
telecommunications, manufacturing and the public sector. The pace of
order intake observed in the first quarter of the year, with very
large-scale projects being awarded to Sopra Group acting alone or in
partnership, leads the Group to anticipate even stronger growth in the
second quarter.
SSI Europe: the Group´s European
revenue of 56.2 million euros, representing total growth of +8.3% and
organic growth of +6.0%, is in line with forecasts. Business in the
United Kingdom, which achieved organic growth of +8.2%, confirms the
positive growth trend observed at the end of last year. Organic growth
in Spain came to +6.2% and reflects a healthy business performance
despite the effect of an unfavourable comparison base. The situation in
the other European countries is in line with forecasts.
Axway: revenue amounted to 33.9 million euros, representing total
growth of +13.4% and organic growth of +12.3%, in line with forecasts.
Order intake remained high, notably in the United States and the United
Kingdom where Axway has big ambitions and particularly in the
pharmaceutical, banking and e-trade sectors.
Overview of the financial position and results
On the basis of available data, Sopra Group anticipates at least
equivalent growth in the second quarter and is confident in its
capacity, in the current economic environment, to achieve organic growth
higher than the market for 2008 as a whole. Moreover, improving the
operating margin remains the Group´s constant
objective. No events occurred during the period which would have a
significant impact on the financial position of the Group.
Significant transactions and events
As previously mentioned, the consolidation scope changed as follows:
The B2B activity of Atos Origin (Germany) has been consolidated since
1 February 2007
Methosystem (Italy) has been consolidated since 1 July 2007
Interface (France) has been consolidated since 1 August 2007
Business Architects International (Belgium) has been consolidated
since 1 October 2007
CIBF (France) has been consolidated since 1 January 2008
G2i (France) has been consolidated since 1 January 2008.
Upcoming events
The Annual Shareholders´ Meeting will take
place at 2:30pm on 15 May 2008 at Hôtel
Meurice, 228 rue de Rivoli, Paris. A dividend of €1.65
payable on 30 May 2008, will be proposed at the meeting and, if
approved, the ex-dividend date will be 27 May 2008.
Sopra Group will publish its revenue for the second quarter on 28 July
2008, after the market close.
Appendix
= = = = = = = = = = =
€m
1st Quarter
Total Growth
Organic Growth
- - - - - -
2008
2007
Reported
2007
Pro forma
- - - - - -
- - - - - -
Consulting
11,8
10,8
10,8
+ 9,3%
+ 9,3%
- - - - - -
SSI France
166,8
146,6
149,0
+ 13,8%
+ 11,9%
- - - - - -
SSI Europe
56,2
51,9
53,0
+ 8,3%
+ 6,0%
- - - - - -
Axway
33,9
29,9
30,2
+ 13,4%
+ 12,3%
- - - - - -
- - - - - -
Group Total
268,7
239,2
243,0
+ 12,3%
+ 10,6%
- - - - - -
About Sopra Group (www.sopragroup.com)
A leader in the European consulting and IT services market, Sopra Group
generated revenue of 1 billion euros in 2007 and has a human and
intellectual resource potential of over 11,000 people. Thanks to a
longstanding culture of excellence and strong sector-specific
functional and technological know-how, the Group offers its clients an
end to end approach based on a well-honed business model. Sopra Group´s
ambition is to allow its clients to focus on transformation projects
that will give them a competitive edge and help them drive growth. Sopra
Group´s savoir-faire encompasses prior
strategic reflection through to the supervision and implementation of
major systems integration and application outsourcing projects. The
Group also pursues the worldwide deployment of its activities in both
application integration and business process management through its
subsidiary Axway, the world´s leading
provider of Collaborative Business Solutions, with a complete range of
solutions and services. For more information, please go to our website www.sopragroup.com.
Sopra Group - Société Anonyme with share capital of ?45,867,340 -
326 820 065 RCS Annecy - APE 722A
Registered office: PAE - Les Glaisins - F-74940 Annecy-le-Vieux - Tel.:
+33 (0)4 50 33 30 30
Head office: 9 bis, rue de Presbourg - F-75116 Paris - Tel.: +33 (0)1 40
67 29 29
