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Rodolphe Belmer replaces Elie Girard at the head of Atos

2021-10-20T16:53:57.300Z


After a very complicated year 2021 for the French group, the board of directors approved the change in governance.


The year 2021 will end under the sign of a new direction for Atos. The board of directors of the French IT group on Wednesday recorded the replacement of Elie Girard by Rodolphe Belmer, until then CEO of Eutelsat. He will arrive at his new post at the end of the year. Atos was to present, just after the close of the Paris Bourse, its turnover for the third quarter of 2021, which turned out to be very complicated. The accumulation of setbacks and the lack of a return to growth for this year had instilled doubt and discontent for months among its investors: after a fall of more than 40% in the stock market valuation, Atos had been taken out of the index Parisian lighthouse CAC 40 in September.

The descent into hell began in January with the stale project of a potential buyout of the American DXC for 10 billion dollars.

The file was quickly closed, but the market did not understand why the French group - which seeks to reposition itself towards sectors with strong growth - was ready to bet so big on this American in restructuring with a heavy legacy of declining activities.

Investor mistrust

On April 1 - and it is not a fish - Atos warned the financial markets of reservations made by the auditors, following accounting errors and weaknesses in internal control observed on two legal entities in the United States.

The impact will ultimately be much more serious in terms of Atos' image than on its business.

A clear sign of the existing mistrust of investors, the shareholders refuse to approve the consolidated accounts at the annual general meeting.

The continued weakening of the stock market raises the fear of a takeover bid, heightened in May by the strange and brief episode of a phantom investor claiming, without merit, to have crossed the 5% of the capital of the company.

The case is a joke, but no one laughs.

Accelerate renewal

In July, another cold shower: Atos warns that it will not resume growth in 2021 as it still expected at the end of April.

The switchover of customers to the public cloud is faster than Atos expected, and the weight of its declining historical activities is too heavy to allow it to move forward sufficiently.

The arrival of Rodolphe Belmer at the head of Atos must embody a page that is turned.

The new managing director, who also headed Canal +, will be responsible for accelerating the renewal of a group in full transformation.

On the one hand, Atos is looking for partners to relieve itself of the burden of its historical activities.

And on the other, it must work harder to focus its growing activities: cloud, cybersecurity, digital and decarbonization.

SEE ALSO -

France 2030: Emmanuel Macron wants to reindustrialize France to "once again become a great nation of innovation and production"

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-10-20

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