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
|
|
||||||
| 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 | ||||||
“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
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
Revenue for the
Excluding SFT, revenue for
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
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
Share buyback programme
The retirement of 858,163 shares (equating to 4.2% of the share capital) was announced on
As also announced on
Acquisition and external growth transactions
On
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,
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,
Wednesday,
Thursday,
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
About
The world is how we shape it
For more information, visit us at www.soprasteria.com
Copyright © 2026 Sopra Steria. All rights reserved.
1 Alternative performance measures are defined at the end of this document.
2 End of programme for Sparda banks announced on
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
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.
|
|
|||
| €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% |
|
|
|||
| For €1 / % |
Average
|
Average
|
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% |
|
|
||||||
|
Q1 2026 |
Q1 2025
|
Q1 2025
|
Organic
|
Total
|
||
|
|
||||||
|
|
650.1 |
606.7 |
602.6 |
+7.2% |
+7.9% |
|
|
|
220.0 |
211.1 |
219.3 |
+4.2% |
+0.3% |
|
|
|
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% |
|
|
|
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 | ||||||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
20,007 |
19,617 |
|
|
22,286 |
22,462 |
| Outside |
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 |
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260428452040/en/
Investor Relations
Olivier Psaume
olivier.psaume@soprasteria.com
+33 (0)6 17 64 29 39
Press Relations
caroline.simon@image7.fr
+33 (0)1 53 70 74 65
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