Assystem guides for 10% revenue growth in 2019

/ March 22, 2019

Assystem’s 2018 earnings were in line with its guidance. The company already had communicated its revenue performance, with a disappointing H1 (+0.8% at CC/CS) and a very good H2 (+13.2%).

Is ÅF Pöyry an ER&D service vendor?

/ March 13, 2019

Several readers reacted to the birth on February 22, 2019, of ÅF Pöyry. They argue that ÅF Pöyry has become a building engineering-centric firm and now shares more with the likes of Sweco, Arcadis, or SNC Lavallin in Canada, than with Altran, or HCL Tech.

Accenture acquires in the MES space with ESP

/ March 9, 2019

With the launch of Industry X.0 last year, Accenture had voiced its intention to enter the ER&D services, starting by IoT and digital technologies. During the summer of 2018, the company had acquired two embedded software specialists and one product design firm. The scale of the acquisition was relatively modest with a combined ~450 consultants added

Ricardo renews and expands its engine manufacturing contract with McLaren

/ February 21, 2019

British ER&D service vendor Ricardo has renewed and expanded its engine manufacturing contract with McLaren. The company will manufacture engines for McLaren’s Track 25 plan. McLaren is expanding its car portfolio and as part of Track 25, will design 18 new models or derivatives of existing models.

Pöyry completes its recovery in 2018

/ February 16, 2019

We looked at the 2018 results of Pöyry, its last financials before its acquisition by ÅF. The results confirmed that Pöyry has succeeded in its recovery: its 2018 revenues were up 10.9% in 2018, to EUR 580m, and its adjusted EBIT margin was 7.5%, up 250 bps.

A slight slowdown for SII in Q3 FY19

/ February 13, 2019

SII’s growth in Q3 FY19 slowed down a bit: revenues were up 11.8% yoy and up 12.3% yoy at CC/CS (H1: +14.5% at CC/CS). The relative slowdown came from international operations (+16.6% at CC/CS in Q3, vs. H1: +21.2%), while France was stable at +9.0% in Q3 (H1: 9.1%).

Belcan continues to acquire in the UK

/ February 4, 2019

Belcan made its second acquisition in the UK, since it was taken over by PE AE Industrial Partners. The acquired firm is Sitec, through its two units Sitec Design and Sitec Recruitment.

HCL Tech’s ERS continued high growth. Up 17% in Q3 FY19

/ February 3, 2019

The revenue growth of HCL Tech’s ERS unit continued to be high in Q3 FY19 to 17.4% yoy at CC. Revenues well above the half-billion threshold, to USD 562m, comforting HCL Tech as the third largest ER&D service vendor globally.

KPIT reborn!

/ January 19, 2019

KPIT quietly finalized its merger with the privately-owned Birlasoft. The new company is now called Birlasoft and will be an IT service pure-play. Birlasoft has carved out its automotive engineering business that will be called KPIT.

Volkswagen and Ford to work together on commercial vehicles

/ January 15, 2019

As expected, Volkswagen and Ford have provided some detail on their long-awaited partnership. Ford will design and build mid-sized pickups for Volkswagen, with the first vehicles ready in 2022. It will also build large commercial vans, while Volkswagen will develop a city van. In addition, the two firms intend to work together on mobility services, EVs and autonomous vehicles.

Why onshore ER&D service vendors must pro-actively become India-centric

/ January 6, 2019

It is striking to see how few onshore ER&D service vendors have built a significant Indian or nearshore presence. Onshore vendors do acknowledge that the Indian ER&D service vendors grow faster than they do but argue that most of the Indian vendors service U.S. clients or industries (mostly, ISVs, technology vendors and telecom equipment manufacturers) they do not quite address.

2018: A Year in Review

/ January 3, 2019

2018 was an eventful year: the top ER&D vendors accelerated their M&A activities. Alten continued to deploy its business model. HCL Tech’s ERS unit had a superb year