- Operating income up 50%.
- Sales and recruitment momentum still strong in H2
| In millions of euros - IFRS (Under audit) | S1 2019 | S1 2018* |
| Sales figures | 57,3 | 54,5 |
| Current operating income | 2,2 | 2,0 |
| As a % of sales | 3,8% | 3,6% |
| Non-operating income and expenses | (0,7) | (0,9) |
| Operating income | 1,5 | 1,0 |
| As a % of sales | 2,6% | 1,8% |
| Financial result | (0,4) | (0,3) |
| Taxes | (0,6) | (0,4) |
| Net income | 0,5 | 0,3 |
| As a % of sales | 0,9% | 0,6% |
(*) Financial indicators as of June 30, 2018 have not been restated for the effects of the application of IFRS 16 on leases
Micropole, an international consulting and innovative technology group specializing in Digital Experience, Data Intelligence & Performance and Data Governance & Architecture, reported revenues of €57.3 million in thefirst half of 2019, up 5.1% from €54.5 million in the same period of 2018. On a like-for-like basis, revenues were up 4.6%. On a constant number of working days (1 less working day between H1 2019 and H1 2018), the increase over the half-year was 6%.
Current operating income increased by 10% to EUR 2.2 million. On a constant working day basis, current operating income improved by 1 point (4.6% vs. 3.6%).
- In Europe (Group excluding China and Micropole Learning Solutions), the current operating profit was 4.3%.
- Concerning the other regions: the training activity is at operational breakeven, while activities in China have been impacted by a strong slowdown in the local market.
Operating profit, meanwhile, reached €1.5 million (+50%). Net income (group share) amounted to 0.5 million euros, compared with 0.3 million euros in H1 2018. Excluding the IFRS 16 impact, net income would have been €0.6 million, representing a 20% change.
As of June 30, 2019, the Group maintained a solid financial structure, with cash and cash equivalents of 9.7 million euros and net financial debt of 19.3 million euros (excluding IFRS 16 rental debt), for shareholders' equity up to 49.9 million euros.
Several areas of development
The Group's development, linked to the pursuit of a differentiation strategy based on added value and innovation, is based in particular on :
- Strong recognition in its markets, thanks to its Data offerings (+3.1% growth in ARPU in France)
- A permanent innovation work around technologies and uses allowing us to anticipate future customer challenges and to position ourselves at the level of our customers' general management
- The rise of Cloud offerings in partnership with Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, SalesForce and Alibaba Cloud as well as the recent launch of the GoCloud&Security offering
HR Strategy
Despite the ongoing pressure on resources, H1 2019 is marked by a 10% growth in recruitment in France and Switzerland. In parallel with the intensification of its HR and Employer Brand policy, focused on recruiting and retaining talent, the Group was once again rewarded during the period with the Happy at Work and Happy Trainees labels and obtained its first Agile at Work label.
Perspectives / Target 21 plan
The outlook for the second half of the year remains positive. Supported by a good business dynamic linked to its positioning and the recent reinforcement of its sales teams, Micropole is maintaining its revenue growth forecasts and expects to continue to improve its operating profit in H2 2019.
Micropole is therefore reaffirming its ambitions within the framework of the TARGET 21 plan, and in particular to increase its profitability, which is the major objective.
Next financial meeting on Thursday, November 14, 2019 for the publication of Q3 2019 sales.
