On Thursday, Sopra Steria presented annual results for 2023 that analysts described as excellent, and clarified its strategy by explaining that it intends to focus on digital services.

The technology group explains that it intends to focus on businesses such as financial services, defense and security, aeronautics, space and the public sector.

Its ambition is to constitute, in the face of the global giants, a European
alternative, particularly on the issues of digital sovereignty, for major European principals.

With this in mind, the company announced yesterday that it would be selling most of its banking software activities to Axway Software, for an enterprise value of 330 million euros.

In a press release, Sopra explains that its fiscal year 2024 will be devoted to drawing up a new strategic plan for the period 2025-2027, the content of which
will be unveiled at an investor day scheduled for early December 2024.

For 2023, sales amounted to 5.8 billion euros, up 13.8%, including +6% organic growth, above the revised target of 'at least 6%' delivered last July.

Operating margin reached 9.4%, up 0.5 points and above the target of "slightly over 9%".

Net income, Group share, came to 183.7 million euros, compared with 247.8 million in 2022, due to an 89-million-euro impairment on the Sopra Banking Software asset, with no impact on cash.

The dividend for 2023 amounts to 4.65 euros per share, compared with 4.30 euros for 2022.

For 2024, the Group is targeting annual organic sales growth of between 2% and 4%, with an operating margin of between 9.5% and 10%.

While analysts at Invest Securities considered these forecasts "unsurprising", they described the 2023 results as "excellent", and praised the company's refocusing on services.

Following this publication, the share price climbed by almost 7% on Thursday morning on the Paris stock exchange, making it the second biggest gainer on the SBF 120 index behind Bureau Veritas.

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