Company Announcements

Sopra Steria: Rebound in business activity confirmed, with 3.4% revenue growth in Q1 2026

  • Revenue for Q1 2026 came to €1,463.2 million, equating to growth of 3.4%
  • Organic growth1 came to 3.2%. Excluding the negative impact of the conclusion of the SFT programme,2 underlying organic growth in revenue came to 4.4%
  • All of the Group’s reporting units (France, United Kingdom, Europe excluding SFT, Solutions) recorded growth in their business activity in Q1
  • The Consulting business as well as the Aeronautics and Defence, Security & Space sectors saw sustained growth
  • Confirmation of all full-year targets for 2026

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 29, 2026-- Regulatory News:

Sopra Steria generated revenue of €1,463.2 million in the first quarter of 2026, representing growth of 3.4%. At constant scope and exchange rates, revenue grew by 3.2%.

 
 
Sopra Steria: Consolidated revenue – Q1 2026
Q1 2026 Q1 2025
restated*
Q1 2025
reported
Organic
growth
Total
growth
 
Revenue

1,463.2

1,418.3

1,415.0

3.2%

+3.4%

* Revenue at 2026 scope and exchange rates
 

Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer of Sopra Steria Group, commented:

“Sopra Steria achieved a solid start to the year, confirming the return to growth observed in late 2025. Momentum picked up in most of our geographies, driven in particular by the confirmed rebound in the Consulting business and the acceleration in the Aeronautics and Defence, Security & Space sectors.

These results confirmed the relevance of our positioning in Europe to help our clients navigate their transformations, in particular with regard to artificial intelligence and issues related to systems and data sovereignty.

The agility of our entrepreneurial model and the fact that the majority of our work is carried out under fixed-price or outcome-based agreements3 reinforce the value created by our solutions for our clients.

Given this context, and taking into account the uncertain geopolitical environment, we confirm all of our full-year targets for 2026.”

Comments on Q1 2026 business activity

Revenue came to €1,463.2 million, up 3.4% relative to Q1 2025. After adjusting to exclude the impact of currency fluctuations (-€5.4 million) and the impact of changes in scope (+€8.7 million), organic growth came to 3.2%. The conclusion of the SFT programme, scheduled since early 2023, had a 1.2-point negative impact.4 As such, excluding this impact, underlying organic growth for the Group’s business activities in Q1 2026 came to 4.4%.

Growth in Q1 benefited from a favourable base effect (against negative 4.9% growth in Q1 2025) and was driven by an improvement in business trends in most of the Group’s geographies. The acceleration with regard to Q4 2025 – which had already seen a return to positive growth (1.8%) – was particularly notable in Aeronautics (+15%) and Defence, Security & Space (+7%). The Consulting business also confirmed the rebound in its momentum (up 5%).

Revenue for France(44% of the Group total) was €650.1 million. Organic growth was substantially higher (7.2%) than in Q4 2025 (1.6%). With the exception of the Energy & Telecoms sector, all the reporting unit’s vertical markets showed positive growth. The best-performing vertical markets were Transport, Aeronautics, Public Sector, Financial Services, and Defence, Security & Space.

Revenue for the United Kingdom (15% of the Group total) came to €220.0 million, representing organic growth of 4.2%. This performance was driven by the growth achieved by the NHS SBS platform, next-generation business process services and the private sector, in particular financial services.

Excluding SFT, revenue for Europe (€475.9 million) returned to organic growth (1.6%), after contracting by an average of around 2.6% per quarter in 2025. Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Spain achieved buoyant growth. Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands showed moderate contractions, less pronounced than those seen in Q4 2025. The trend in these three countries is expected to continue to improve in the upcoming quarters. SFT(2) posted revenue of €31.9 million (€47.7 million in Q1 2025), in line with forecasts. In total, the Europereporting unit (35% of the Group total) generated revenue of €507.8 million, representing an organic contraction of 1.6% (organic growth of 1.6% excluding SFT).

Revenue for the Solutions reporting unit (6% of the Group total) came to €85.3 million, representing organic growth of 0.9%. The Human Resources Solutions business (which generates two thirds of the reporting unit’s revenue) remained stable, while the Property Management Solutions business was buoyant.

Workforce

At end-March 2026, the Group’s headcount stood at 51,1635 people, including the acquisitions of Aurexia and Neocase, compared with 50,106 people at 31 March 2025.

More than 8,600 staff were employed at international service centres, up 12.7% from Q1 2025. International service centres accounted for 16.8% of the total workforce at the end of Q1 2026, compared with 15.6% a year earlier.

The staff attrition rate6 was 15.4%, compared with 16.4% at 31 March 2025.

Share buyback programme

The retirement of 858,163 shares (equating to 4.2% of the share capital) was announced on 28 April 2026, following the €150 million share buyback programme launched on 2 October 2024 and completed on 28 January 2025.

As also announced on 28 April 2026, in 2026 Sopra Steria plans to launch a new share buyback programme for a maximum of €40 million, it being specified that the shares bought back under this programme would also be retired. This programme is part of the capital allocation policy described at Capital Markets Day on 12 December 2024, which provided for, in addition to the payment of dividends, the possibility of using annual share buyback plans over the period 2025-2028.

Acquisition and external growth transactions

On 17 December 2025, Sopra Steria announced that it had entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Starionand Nexova. This acquisition aims to create a leading European player in secure, sovereign digital services and solutions for the space and cybersecurity sectors. With around 700 employees and operations in 9 countries across Europe, Starion and Nexova together generated slightly over €100 million in revenue in 2025. The transaction is expected to be finalised in the coming days.

Recap of targets for 2026

  • Organic revenue growth of between 1.0% and 2.0%, including a non-recurring negative impact of around 2 points arising from the conclusion of the SFT programme(2)
  • Operating margin on business activity of at least 9.5%
  • Free cash flow of around 5% of revenue

Meeting to report Q1 2026 revenue

Revenue for the first quarter of 2026 will be presented to financial analysts and investors via a bilingual (French and English) webcast to be held on Wednesday, 29 April 2026 at 8:30 a.m. CET.

  • Register for the French-language webcast here
  • Register for the English-language webcast here

Practical information about this conference call can be found in the ‘Investors’ section of the Group’s website: https://www.soprasteria.com/investors

Upcoming financial releases

Wednesday, 20 May 2026 (2:30 p.m.): General Meeting of Shareholders

Wednesday, 29 July 2026 (8:30 a.m.): Meeting to report H1 2026 results

Thursday, 29 October 2026 (8:30 a.m.): Meeting to report Q3 2026 revenue

Glossary

  • Restated revenue : Revenue for the prior year, expressed on the basis of the scope and exchange rates for the current year.
  • Organic revenue growth : Increase in revenue between the period under review and restated revenue for the same period in the prior financial year.
  • EBITDA : This measure, as defined in the Universal Registration Document, is equal to consolidated operating profit on business activity after adding back depreciation, amortisation and provisions included in operating profit on business activity.
  • Free cash flow : Free cash flow is defined as net cash from operations; less investments (net of disposals) in property, plant and equipment, and intangible assets; less lease payments; less net interest paid; and less additional contributions to address any deficits in defined-benefit pension plans.
  • Operating profit on business activity : This measure, as defined in the Universal Registration Document, is equal to profit from recurring operations adjusted to exclude the share-based payment expense for stock options and free shares and charges to amortisation of allocated intangible assets.
  • Profit from recurring operations : This measure is equal to operating profit before other operating income and expenses, which includes any particularly significant items of operating income and expense that are unusual, abnormal, infrequent or not foreseeable, presented separately in order to give a clearer picture of performance based on ordinary activities.
  • Basic recurring earnings per share : This measure is equal to basic earnings per share before other operating income and expenses net of tax.
  • Return on capital employed (RoCE) : (Profit from recurring operations before tax + Profit from equity-accounted companies) / (Equity + Net financial debt)
  • Downtime : Number of days between two contracts (excluding training, sick leave, other leave and pre-sales) divided by the total number of business days.

Disclaimer

This document contains forward-looking information subject to certain risks and uncertainties that may affect the Group’s future growth and financial results. Readers are reminded that licence agreements, which often represent investments for clients, are signed in greater numbers in the second half of the year, with varying impacts on end-of-year performance. Actual outcomes and results may differ from those described in this document due to operational risks and uncertainties. More detailed information on the potential risks that may affect the Group’s financial results can be found in the 2025 Universal Registration Document filed with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) on 13 March 2026 (see pages 42 to 50 in particular). Sopra Steria does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this document beyond what is required by current laws and regulations. The distribution of this document in certain countries may be subject to the laws and regulations in force. Persons physically present in countries where this document is released, published or distributed should enquire as to any applicable restrictions and should comply with those restrictions.

About Sopra Steria

Sopra Steria, a major tech player in Europe with 51,000 employees in nearly 30 countries, is recognised for its consulting, digital services and solutions. It helps its clients drive their digital transformation and obtain tangible and sustainable benefits. The Group provides end-to-end solutions to make large companies and organisations more competitive by combining in-depth knowledge of a wide range of business sectors and technologies with a collaborative approach. Sopra Steria places people at the heart of everything it does and is committed to putting digital to work for its clients in order to build a positive future for all. In 2025, the Group generated revenue of €5.6 billion.

The world is how we shape it
Sopra Steria (SOP) is listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment A) – ISIN: FR0000050809
For more information, visit us at www.soprasteria.com

Copyright © 2026 Sopra Steria. All rights reserved. Sopra Steria and its logo are registered trademarks of Sopra Steria.

1 Alternative performance measures are defined at the end of this document.
2 End of programme for Sparda banks announced on 23 February 2023 and scheduled for 2026.
3 In 2025, ~60% of the Group’s revenue was generated through fixed-price contracts or managed services based on service-level agreements.
4 As announced upon release of the Group’s full-year results on 26 February 2026, the negative impact on each of the last three quarters of the year is expected to be slightly over 2 points.
5 Workforce excluding interns, in accordance with the requirements of the CSRD.
6 Attrition rate including top performers who left less than six months after they were recruited, in accordance with the requirements of the CSRD.

 
Sopra Steria: Impact on revenue of changes in scope and exchange rates – Q1 2026
€m

Q1 2026

Q1 2025

Growth

Revenue

1,463.2

1,415.0

+3.4%

Changes in exchange rates

 

-5.4

 

Revenue at constant exchange rates

1,463.2

1,409.6

+3.8%

Changes in scope

 

+8.7

 

Revenue at constant exchange rates & scope

1,463.2

1,418.3

+3.2%

 
 
Sopra Steria: Changes in exchange rates – Q1 2026
For €1 / %

Average
rate

Average
rate

Change

Q1 2026

Q1 2025

 

Pound sterling

0.8682

0.8357

- 3.7%

Norwegian krone

11.3820

11.6514

+ 2.4%

Swedish krona

10.6947

11.2352

+ 5.1%

Danish krone

7.4707

7.4599

- 0.1%

Swiss franc

0.9168

0.9458

+ 3.2%

 
Sopra Steria: Revenue by reporting unit – Q1 2026

Q1 2026

Q1 2025
restated*

Q1 2025
reported

Organic
growth

Total
growth

 

France

650.1

606.7

602.6

+7.2%

+7.9%

United Kingdom

220.0

211.1

219.3

+4.2%

+0.3%

Europe

507.8

516.0

512.1

-1.6%

-0.8%

of which: SFT

31.9

47.7

47.7

-33.1%

-33.1%

Solutions

85.3

84.5

81.0

+0.9%

+5.4%

Sopra Steria Group

1,463.2

1,418.3

1,415.0

+3.2%

+3.4%

of which: SFT

 

 

 

-1.2%

-1.3%

* Revenue at 2026 scope and exchange rates
 
Sopra Steria: Workforce breakdown – 31/03/2026
3/31/2026 3/31/2025
France

20,007

19,617

Europe

22,286

22,462

Outside Europe

258

217

International service centres

8,612

7,810

Total*

51,163

50,106

* Workforce calculated excluding interns, in accordance with the requirements of the CSRD

 

Investor Relations
Olivier Psaume
olivier.psaume@soprasteria.com
+33 (0)6 17 64 29 39

Press Relations
Caroline Simon (Image 7)
caroline.simon@image7.fr
+33 (0)1 53 70 74 65

 

 

Source: Sopra Steria