We were expecting EDAG would have a difficult Q2, as the company is very European and services mostly the automotive sector. However, we had not anticipated a decline of this scale: revenues were down by 32.6% in Q2. Unsurprisingly, the EBIT margin was significantly in negative territory (-14.4%).
As expected, Assystem suffered in Q2 2020: revenues declined by 13.7% yoy CC/CS during the quarter. Staffing was down by 16.3%, while Energy & Infrastructure did somewhat better (-13.3%). The core nuclear engineering business was down by 10.1% (our estimate).
Alten announced better than expected revenues in Q2 with a CC/CS decline of 18.4% (we expected -23%), after a growth of 4.0% in Q1. During H1, the decline was 7.3% (guidance: -9%).
Revenues Collapsed in H1 2020 Akka suffered greatly in H1 2020, with revenues down by 20.3%
According to unofficial sources, Renault has now finalized its list of preferred ER&D service vendors, reducing it from nine vendors to four. The four winners are Akka, Bertrandt, Expleo, and Segula. They will now grab 80% of Renault’s ER&D spending and double their market shares.
HCL Tech reported good set numbers for its Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) business in Q1 FY21. Revenues were down by 5.1% at CC to USD 378m. The growth is mostly organic (CS) and only includes an estimated USD 5m in acquired revenues, resulting from the Sankalp acquisition. This positions ERS among the best-performing units this quarter.
Sweco had already demonstrated its resilience in Q1, with a +4% organic growth. In Q2, despite COVID-19, the company remained in positive territory (+2%). The performance is a surprise, as Sweco is very sensitive to the number of working days.
ER&D’s largest pure-play globally, Alten, will be announcing its Q2 2020 revenue by the end of July. The company had a very decent Q1, with a 4% CC/CS revenue growth. However, it warned that revenues would be down by ~22% in Q2.
No surprise. AFRY had a terrible Q2 2020: revenues were down by 9.2% yoy at CC/CS. The Industry and Digital Solutions Division led the decline (with revenues down yoy at 16.3% at CC/CS). The Division suffered in the automotive sector, whose revenues collapsed by 40% during the quarter.
We just learned that Expleo has a new CEO, Rajesh Krishnamurthy. On paper, Mr. Krishnamurthy, has everything right for Expleo. He is a French citizen of Indian origin. He has held senior roles at Infosys, including one as head of the Energy, Utilities, and Telco division, a major responsibility as Infosys is organized by vertical. He also led Infosys Global Consulting.
One year after its merger with Pöyry, AFRY is still struggling. At the time of the Pöyry acquisition, AFRY, the ÅF, wanted to reignite organic growth and improve its profitability. The result is mixed.
Ricardo divested, as expected, its engine testing and prototype facility in Belleville, MI. The company had looked for a buyer for more than one year and even bought the property to make the sale of the facility easier.
A bit more than two years ago, the share of Bertrandt was above EUR 100 and its market cap above EUR 1bn. Investors liked Bertrandt’s annual growth of 10% and its high-single-digit EBIT margin. Today, Bertrandt’s market cap varies between EUR350-400m, and the financial performance continues to deteriorate.
Assystem made a tuck-in acquisition with British risk management firm, Corporate Risk Associates (RCA). As its name suggests, RCA is a risk consultancy that is active across several sectors (including nuclear, oil & gas, defense).
Accenture made a rare acquisition in PLM services for its Industry X.0 unit. The company is to acquire a Torino-headquartered PTC partner, PLM Systems. PLM Systems is a small firm and has 30 consultants
Cyient surprised, negatively, the markets by announcing a decline of 9.7% in its Q4 FY20 revenues (to USD 149m) and an adjusted EBIT margin down 440 bps (to 8.4%).
Without surprise, French ER&D service vendor SII announced a slowdown in its Q4 FY20 (ending March 31): revenues were up 2.2% at CC/CS during the quarter.
Accenture made another acquisition for its Industry X.0 unit. The newly acquired firm is Callisto Integration, an industrial IT specialist that is headquartered in Oakville, Ontario.
Renault is considering R&D outsourcing to save EUR 100-200m annually. The company currently works with approximately 15 ER&D vendors and wants to reduce its number of preferred partners to five.
During the crisis, PSA more than doubled the number of employees WaH from 18,000 concurrent connections to its IT to 38,000.
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The Aerospace Industry’s Outlook Has Changed in Less Than Two Months We now have visibility on
The media have reported numerous examples of volunteers, globally, producing missing equipment, mostly protective masks, for health care professionals exposed to the COVID-19 disease.
Dassault Systems lowered it Q1 2020: the company is now expecting revenue growth in the range of 14%-17%, down from a 20-23% guidance (that includes the acquisition of Medidata). The company has suffered from weaker than expected new license and services revenues. Meanwhile, revenues of Medidata were on a “momentum and license renewals were up too.
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