The Board of Directors of Capgemini SE, chaired by Paul Hermelin, convened on July 27, 2021 in Paris to review and adopt the accounts of Capgemini Group for the first half of 2021.
Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer of the Capgemini Group, said: “Capgemini has delivered an excellent 2021 first-half performance. Organic growth accelerated significantly in Q2 reaching 12.9%, and H1 operating margin has materially improved.
I would like once again to pay tribute to our 290,000 team members who continuously create value for our clients, in a context that remains challenging in several regions.
These results are underpinned by two factors: a structural acceleration in client demand for technology and the relevance of our strategic direction, as outlined during our 2021 Capital Markets Day. They also exemplify our growth model based on our intimacy with strategic clients, the success of our innovative offerings, deep relationships with our technology partners and significant investments in human capital. We are developing new solutions to help our clients reduce their carbon footprint, and have just launched our first offer for sustainable IT.
In light of this excellent performance and the very solid prospects for the second half of the year, we have decided to significantly raise our growth, operating margin and free cash flow targets for 2021.”
Capgemini generated revenues of €8,711 million in H1 2021. After a Q1 2021 already marked by higher than expected growth, the Group accelerated strongly in the second quarter. Organic growth* (i.e. adjusted for Group scope and exchange rate impacts) was +12.9%, compared with +1.7% in the previous quarter, with Q2 activity significantly exceeding pre-crisis levels.
For the whole of H1, Group growth reached +14.9% on a reported basis, +17.9% at constant exchange rates and +7.1% organically. Digital and Cloud services primarily underpinned this performance, accounting for around two-thirds of activity[3] and recording strong double-digit year-on-year growth at constant exchange rates in H1.
Bookings totaled €9,128 million in the first six months of 2021, a +20% increase at constant exchange rates year-on-year. The book-to-bill ratio reached 105% in H1 and 111% in Q2, demonstrating the Group’s good business momentum.
The operating margin* is €1,042 million, or 12.0% of revenues, an increase of 28% or 120 basis points year-on-year.
Other operating income and expenses represent a net expense of €230 million, down €11 million year-on-year.
Capgemini’s operating profit is therefore up +41% at €812 million, or 9.3% of revenues.
The net financial expense is €85 million, an increase of €21 million on H1 2020 with the acquisition of Altran.
The income tax expense is €282 million and includes exceptional tax expenses2 of €56 million, compared with €26 million last year. Adjusted for these expenses, the effective tax rate is 31.0%, compared with 34.6% in H1 2020 and 33.0% in FY 2020.
Net profit (Group share) is up 42% year-on-year at €443 million for the first six months of 2021. Basic earnings per share rose by 42% year-on-year to €2.63, while normalized earnings per share* increased 28% to €3.58. Normalized earnings per share adjusted for exceptional tax expenses rose 32% to €3.91.
The Group generated organic free cash flow* of €429 million, compared with €106 million in the same period in 2020.
Return to shareholders totaled €329 million in H1 2021, corresponding to the dividend payment (€1.95 per share). Furthermore, the Group disbursed a net amount of €70 million on external growth transactions during the period.
OPERATION BY REGION
Changes in Group scope had a significant impact in Q1 2021 (+22.5 points at Group level), mainly due to the acquisition of Altran, consolidated from April 1, 2020.
Given the very limited impact of scope changes in Q2 (-0.5 points at Group level, due to the divestiture of Odigo on December 30, 2020), constant currency growth rates are far more representative of underlying organic trends (i.e. at constant Group scope and exchange rates).
- Q2 2021:
Organic growth across all Group regions increased significantly on Q1 2021. In particular, France recorded the fastest acceleration, reporting Q2 organic growth well above 10%. This acceleration is also visible across all Group sectors, but especially in those heavily hit by the health crisis: Consumer Goods, Services (including transportation, hospitality and catering) and Manufacturing. The latter sector made a strong recovery, returning in Q2 to an activity level comparable to the pre-crisis period, as did the Consumer Goods sector in Q1.
At constant exchange rates, the Rest of Europe (31% of Group revenues), United Kingdom and Ireland (12% of Group revenues) and Asia-Pacific and Latin America (7% of Group revenues) regions grew significantly above 10%, while France (21% of Group revenues) and North America (29% of Group revenues) reported high single-digit growth.
These regional trends were fueled by relatively global sector trends. At constant exchange rates, growth is high double-digit in Consumer Goods (13% of Group revenues), Manufacturing (25% of Group revenues and also including Life Sciences), Services (5% of Group revenues) and the Public Sector (14% of Group revenues). Financial Services (22% of Group revenues) and the TMT sector (Telecom, Media and Technology, 13% of Group revenues) came next. Only the momentum of the Energy & Utilities sector (8% of Group revenues) fell significantly short of that of the rest of the Group.
- H1 2021:
Given the magnitude of the Q2 acceleration, the activity trends detailed above also apply to the entire half-year. All Group regions reported double-digit growth rates year-on-year at constant exchange rates. This performance takes into account the impact of Altran’s consolidation, which is nonetheless limited to Q1 as explained above.
Revenues in North America therefore grew by +12.3% at constant exchange rates, driven mainly by the underlying organic momentum of the Consumer Goods and Manufacturing sectors. The operating margin rate improved further to 15.7%, from 14.4% in the first half of 2020.
Momentum was even stronger in the United Kingdom and Ireland region, with activity growth of +18.5% at constant exchange rates. Public Sector and Financial Services organic growth remained buoyant in the half-year, with Consumer Goods accelerating steadily. The operating margin reached a record level of 17.6%, compared with 14.3% a year earlier.
France revenues grew by +16.2% at constant exchange rates. The Public Sector and Consumer Goods contributed the most to organic growth during the period, while the Manufacturing sector closed the period on a strong momentum. The operating margin improved by 60 basis points year-on-year to 7.5%.
The Rest of Europe region grew +23.7% at constant exchange rates. The Manufacturing, Consumer Goods and TMT sectors reported the strongest organic trend. The operating margin increased significantly to 11.5% from 10.2% one year ago.
Finally, the Asia-Pacific and Latin America region reported revenue growth of +21.3% at constant exchange rates. Organically, the Financial Services, Consumer Goods, TMT and Manufacturing sectors all reported double-digit growth. The region reported a 2-point increase in its operating margin to 12.5%, from 10.5% in H1 2020.
OPERATIONS BY BUSINESS
- Q2 2021:
All Group business lines also showed a further increase in organic growth in total revenues* compared with Q1. In particular, organic growth was a solid double-digit in Strategy & Transformation services (8% of Group revenues) and Applications & Technology services (61% of Group revenues and Capgemini’s core business), but also in Engineering services, which saw a strong return to growth and Q2 activity levels comparable with the pre-crisis period. This excellent performance, combined with strong organic growth in Infrastructure and Cloud services, as well as in Business Services (before the impact of the Odigo divestment), brought organic growth in Operations & Engineering services (31% of Group revenues) to above 10%, compared with 7.7% at constant exchange rates.
- H1 2021:
For the whole of H1 and at constant exchange rates, Strategy & Transformation consulting services reported a +27.3% rise in total revenues. Applications & Technology total revenues increased +10.1%. Finally, Operations & Engineering total revenues grew +33.6% at constant exchange rates with the Q1 impact of the consolidation of Altran, which mainly delivers Engineering services.
HEADCOUNT
At June 30, 2021, the Group’s total headcount stood at 289,500, up +9.2% year-on-year, with 163,200 employees in offshore centers (56% of the total Group headcount, up 3 points on June 30, 2020).
BALANCE SHEET
Capgemini’s balance sheet structure was relatively unchanged in H1 2021.
At June 30, 2021, the Group had cash and cash equivalents and cash management assets of €2.9 billion. After accounting for borrowings of nearly €7.8 billion, Capgemini net debt* stands at €4.8 billion at June 30, 2021, compared with €6.0 billion at June 30, 2020 and €4.9 billion at December 31, 2020.
OUTLOOK
Given the confirmed stronger than expected momentum, the Group is raising all its targets for the fiscal year and is now aiming in 2021 for:
- constant currency growth of +12.0% to +13.0%, instead of +7.0% to +9.0% previously;
- an operating margin of 12.5% to 12.7%, instead of 12.2% to 12.4%;
- organic free cash flow above €1,500 million, compared with €1,300 million.
The inorganic contribution to growth is anticipated at c. 5.0 points (4.5 points previously).
CONFERENCE CALL
Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer and Carole Ferrand, Chief Financial Officer, will present this press release during a conference call in English to be held today at 7.00 a.m. Paris time (CET). You can follow this conference call live via webcast. A replay will also be available for a period of one year.
PROVISIONAL CALENDAR
October 28, 2021 – Q3 2021 revenues
February 14, 2022 – FY 2021 results
April 28, 2022 – Q1 2022 revenues
May 19, 2022 – Shareholders’ Meeting
