2017 half-yearly turnover: +7%

Business momentum in line with strategy

€ Million - IFRS - Pre-audit data 2016 2017 Growth
1st Half 95.7 102.5 +7

SQLI reported turnover of €102.5 million for the first six months of 2017, up 7.1% on the same period in 2016. This growth reflects continued robust expansion of 35% in SQLI’s strategic segments (omni-channel commerce, web solutions and mobility) and a selective approach to low value-added assignments. At constant scope, growth amounted to 5.6% in the first half of the year.

All SQLI subsidiaries outside France, which now represent 40% of the Group’s resources, performed well in the first half of 2017. The latest acquisitions – InventCommerce in the United Kingdom (April 2016) and Star Republic in Sweden (May 2017) – were particularly successful, winning major new contracts late in the period.

Performance highlights in first-half 2017 included:

  • An increase in the number of major connected experience assignments, with some ten projects each mobilizing more than 50 engineers.
  • A resilient average daily rate, which rose by 1%.
  • The development of existing major accounts and the addition of prestigious new clients such as Arcelor, Glanbia, Michelin, Wasa Kredit and Zehnder Group for core business assignments.
  • A rapid renewal of expert profiles to step up the Group’s transformation, with 309 new hires in first-half 2017 bringing the headcount (including interns) to 2,155 at the period-end, including more than ten data scientists.

Move Up 2020 Plan progressing

SQLI carried out many initiatives in first-half 2017 to meet the targets of the Move Up 2020 plan. In particular, the Group pushed ahead with its strategy to improve pricing power by the end of the plan through:

  • Ongoing acquisitions in Northern Europe, where margins are a confirmed four to five points wider than in France for the Group’s strategic businesses.
  • An increase in the number of multi-disciplinary assignments, spanning integration, data, web solutions and UX as well as enhanced Agile expertise.
  • The development of cutting-edge offers that further differentiate the company in digital technology. The Training division has notably received approval for the Digital Security offer while the Lab, which develops advanced offers, has created a chatbot for Nestlé and a conversational commerce offer for another major client.

All of these advances aim to secure SQLI access to the small group of benchmark European firms working to create and continuously upgrade digital platforms for international brands.

Outlook

Most of the company’s transformation costs, including the impact on the employment rate, are expected to be absorbed by the improvements outlined above, thereby maintaining a stable Group margin, excluding the calendar effect. Orders are slated to continue increasing over second-half 2017, with the positive impact of acquisitions on profitability and turnover also to be felt during the period.

SQLI will publish its results for the first half of 2017 on 26 September 2017 after the close of trading.