France’s Atos seeks debt restructuring plan by July after record losses

France’s Atos seeks debt restructuring plan by July after record losses

By Augustin Turpin

(Reuters) -French IT consulting firm Atos is aiming to restructure its debt by July, the group said on Tuesday, after posting record annual losses as uncertainty looms of the group’s future.

“We are also in discussions with our financial creditors with a view to reaching a refinancing plan by July within the framework of an amicable conciliation procedure”, Atos CEO Paul Saleh said in a statement.

The group said a global refinancing agreement could lead to the issuance of new equity, adding that this will likely result in a dilution of the existing shareholders.

Atos, which owns assets considered strategic by the French government and is struggling to turn around its loss-making business, posted a record net loss of 3.44 billion euros ($3.73 billion) for the year ended Dec. 31 after a loss of 1.01 billion euros in 2022.

“It’s a loss supported by a goodwill impairment, it’s a non-cash loss that has more to do with accounting (…) it’s a non-operational loss”, Paul Saleh added in a call with journalists.

The group said in February it had rescheduled its 2023 earnings release to complete the audit of the non-cash goodwill impairment charge.

($1 = 0.9223 euros)

(Reporting by Augustin Turpin and Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Jamie Freed and Tassilo Hummel)