Assystem: EBIT-A up 3.4% in first half, but net loss of €6.6m
Assystem published on October 27, 2026 an operating result before non-recurring items (EBIT-A) of €21.1m in the first half, up 3.4%. The group also updated its annual targets: organic growth of around 3% and an EBIT-A margin of around 7%.
The nuclear engineering group nonetheless closed the half-year with a net loss of €6.6m. The gap between operating performance and net result is essentially attributable to one item: the fair value revaluation of Expleo Group convertible bonds, which weighed €19.0m. On the activity side, organic growth reached 3.4% in the third quarter, compared with 2.5% in the first half.
Revenue accelerates in third quarter, driven by France
Over the first nine months of 2026, consolidated revenue stood at €492.1m, compared with €484.2m a year earlier, a rise of 1.7%. This growth breaks down into organic growth of 2.8% and a negative currency effect of 1.1%.
The quarterly profile shows improvement over the course of the year. In the first half, revenue had risen 0.6%, to €328.5m, with a currency effect of -1.9%. In the third quarter, it reached €163.6m, up 3.7% on a reported basis and 3.4% on an organic basis, with the currency effect becoming broadly neutral.
Nuclear activities, which account for 81% of revenue, recorded organic growth of 7.7% over nine months, driven notably by France and the United Kingdom. France (61% of total) grew 4.5%, to €297.6m, growth that was entirely organic, with +5.0% in the third quarter alone. The group cites progress on the EPR2 programs and "Aval du futur".
Internationally (39% of revenue), revenues fell 2.4%, to €194.6m, after -4.5% in the first half, with organic growth returning to positive at 0.4%. The United Kingdom supported activity through the ramp-up of recent contracts in civil and defense nuclear. The MECA region, meanwhile, suffered from the end of the Akkuyu contract in Turkey and site studies in Saudi Arabia, while non-nuclear activities continued to decline in India.
EBIT-A margin of 6.4%, driven by France
In the first half, EBIT-A reached €21.1m, compared with €20.4m, and the margin rose from 6.2% to 6.4% of revenue. France saw its EBIT-A rise from €11.4m to €14.0m, representing a margin of 7.0% versus 5.9%. The group attributes this to higher activity levels, better absorption of fixed costs and the contribution of equity-accounted companies engaged on the ITER project.
International moved in the opposite direction: its EBIT-A fell from €11.6m to €9.2m, and its margin from 8.7% to 7.2%. Assystem cites development costs in Canada, unfavorable leverage effects in Saudi Arabia and a timing lag linked to contract phasing. Central expenses amounted to €2.1m, compared with €2.6m a year earlier.
Consolidated operating profit stood at €17.6m, compared with an operating loss of €0.9m in the first half of 2025. This difference is explained notably by the charge linked to share-based payments, reduced to €2.6m compared with €20.9m a year earlier, when the main free share plan was implemented.
Net loss linked to Expleo, margin target of around 7% in 2026
The half-year resulted in a consolidated net loss of €6.6m, compared with a profit of €4.3m a year earlier. The contribution of equity-accounted companies amounted to -€19.1m, of which -€19.0m related to the fair value revaluation of Expleo Group convertible bonds as of June 30, 2026. Net financial expenses (€3.9m compared with €3.4m) and a tax charge of €1.2m, compared with a product of €1.0m a year earlier, also weighed.
For its part, Expleo Group saw its revenue decline 1.2%, to €644.9m, and its EBITDA increase 10.3%, to €53.1m, with losses reduced from €45.6m to €24.8m. Its net debt rose from €592m at end-2025 to €669m, an increase attributed to seasonality. The extension of maturity of its bank financing postpones the maturity of convertible bonds to March 31, 2031.
At Assystem, half-year free cash flow came in at -€19.1m, compared with -€14.7m, and net debt excluding IFRS 16 stands at €81.3m on June 30, compared with €86.2m a year earlier and €59.7m at end-2025. For the year, the group now targets organic growth of around 3%, compared with an initial range of 2% to 4%, and an EBIT-A margin of around 7%, subject to the absence of significant deterioration in the macroeconomic, political or geopolitical environment. In the first half, this margin stood at 6.4%.
