Press release issued on 14 February 2024 at the close of trading.

Strong resilience by Econocom’s business model
• Revenue of €2,681 million, up1 3.5%, including 1.2% organic growth2
• Operating margin3 of €116.2 million, up slightly on 2022
• Consolidated net profit of €62.6 million: earnings per share unchanged at €0.35 as in 2022
• 2023 performance in line with the initial key markers presented in November 2023 for the One econocom 2024-2028 strategic plan, targeting a revenue of 4 billion euros and a net result of 130 million euros in 2028.

Increase in revenue and operating margin from continuing operations
The Econocom Group generated revenue of €2,681 million in 2023, an increase1 of 3.5% compared with restated 2022 revenue. On a like-for-like basis, organic growth2 was 1.2%, demonstrating the Group’s ability to profit from its diversified and balanced positioning between its three activities in a mixed environment for the IT sector.
In accordance with the One econocom 2024-2028 strategic plan announced last November, the French “Apps, Cloud & Data” and “Les Abeilles” activities have been restated as “Assets held for sale” in accordance with IFRS 5. These companies are expected to be sold in the near future; talks are under way with potential buyers. The 2022 income statement has been adjusted accordingly as explained in the notes to this press release.
Over the period, trends in continuing operations were as follows:
• Products & Solutions (P&S) revenue totalled €1,207 million, down1 by 2.5% in reported terms and by 6.1% organically2. The market4 for distribution of digital workplace assets was in poor shape in 2023 (estimated to have decreased in Europe by between -11% and -15% for PCs, between -14% and -19% for smartphones and tablets). Even so the Group managed to limit the decline in its activity thanks largely to its combined offers with its other business lines. 2022 had benefited from a strong rebound effect (with organic growth of just over 15%), particularly in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, as the market recovered from post-Covid supply chain challenges. P&S operating margin3 accordingly was €43.3 million, an operating margin of 3.6%.
• Technology Management & Financing (TMF) accelerated its growth with revenue of €998 million in 2023, an increase1 of 11.2%, including 10% organic growth2. TMF’s solutions, offering personalised independent advice as well as a flexible contractual model, are particularly appreciated by customers in a context of tougher borrowing terms and increased pricing by banks. On the back of this revenue growth, particularly in Germany and Italy, the TMF operating margin3 rose1 strongly to €47.6 million, i.e. 4.8% of revenue compared to 3.3% in 2022.

• In line with previous quarters, Services maintained momentum at the end of the year. With revenue of €476 million, growth1 was an annualised 4.6% (4.5% in organic terms2). In a context marked of rising staff and energy costs, the Group was better at passing through these inflationary effects in the second half of the year. Margin increased from 4.3% in the first half of 2023 to 5.3% for the full-year with an operating margin3 of €25.3 million.

Total Group operating margin3, driven by the improvement of 1.5 points1 in margins at TMF, was €116.2 million compared to €114.2 million in 2022 restated.
Annual net income from continuing operations was €59.5 million compared to €49.3 million in 2022, after:
• other net operating expenses of €8.4 million, down significantly compared to 2022,
• financial income of -€19.8 million, compared to -€13.5 million in 2022, impacted by the significant increase in interest rates, and
• tax expense of €26.1 million, representing an effective tax rate5 of 28.6%.
After deducting the €3.1 million loss from discontinued operations, consolidated profit amounts to €62.6 million.
Econocom’s 2023 performance, in particular revenue, operating margin and net profit, are broadly in line with the starting key markers of the One econocom strategic plan, presented at the Capital Markets Day on 16 November 2023.

Net financial debt6 limited to 1.2x EBITDA and operating cash surplus of €28 million
Net financial debt6 remains well controlled; it stands at €181 million at 31 December 2023, representing 38% of shareholders’ equity and 1.2 times 2023 EBITDA.

Operating cash surplus (after taking into account €209 million of discounted future cash receipts from TMF own booked leases at the end of 2023), amounts to €28 million at 31 December 2023.

Shareholder remuneration
The Board of Directors will propose at the next General Meeting to repay shareholders €0.16 per share from the share premium, unchanged vs. 2023. Based on the average closing share price over the last 20 days, this represents a yield of 6.8%.
Total planned pay-outs in July 2024 would accordingly amount to €27.6 million, or 44.1% of 2023 net profit.

Outlook
In an expected more favourable context, particularly for the IT equipment distribution markets (P&S), the Group will continue in 2024 to roll out its One econocom plan, aimed at accelerating the organic growth of its business lines, strengthening synergies between the various business segments and developing its growth drivers in the audiovisual sector (launch of the Gather with Econocom brand). To achieve this, Econocom plans to significantly increase its sales force in the target regions and recruit new talent to strengthen the appeal and distribution of its offers.

Given a controlled level of net debt and cash flow strengthened by the disposals planned during the year, Econocom will also continue its search for external growth targets in 2024 looking to acquire specific expertises.

For 2024, the Group forecasts a total revenue growth between 3% and 5%.

Beyond 2024 and over the timeframe of its strategic plan to reach €4 billion in revenue and €130 million in net profit by 2028, Econocom will seek to capitalise on:
• strong growth expected in the workplace, audiovisual, infrastructure and network markets, growth partly driven by the investments made necessary by the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence;
• an acceleration of the deployment of Econocom’s offers covering end-to-end customer needs in terms of digital assets;
• a clear roadmap with ambitious objectives that can get all teams onboard;
• a self-financing plan with a now well-advanced disposal programme that will enable the Group to execute its strategic plan, including external growth.

Econocom has also built its 2024-2028 strategic plan around strong ambitions in terms of extra-financial performance, with a particular focus on the repairability and extending the life of its customers’ digital assets, carbon footprint and strengthening equal opportunities for all employees. Econocom thus confirms that it is aiming to achieve the Platinum level of the Ecovadis® Sustainability Rating by 2028.

Find out more in the press release attached. 

We were proud to hold the first edition of the Group TMF Sales Academy in Puteaux from January 29^th to February 1^st.

This event was the opportunity to gather no less than 22 TMF sales from 6 countries (mostly recent joiners) to develop their skills, make them discover Econocom Group and grow their internal network.

Sandrine Fievet, TMF training manager in charge of the French Sales Academy since 2014, explains: “designed as an immersive and tailored learning scheme, the Academy consists in several seminars aiming to provide a comprehensive knowledge of the TMF business. For this first 4-days seminar, the newcomers receive intensive trainings, presentations and best practices on sales skills (e.g. prospection, selling technics) from experienced trainers across different Group functions.”

“As one of the main levers of our strategic plan is to massively recruit salespeople, we are convinced that their onboarding is crucial to achieve our ambitions” comments Pâquerette de Poncins, BDS senior manager and ESA co-organizer.

The organizing team would like to thank Patrick Van Den Berg, Mathilde Saint-Pol, Christoph Blaeser, Philippe Hemmings, Jaroslaw Schwinge, Elzbieta Manjurka, Amine Belfakir, Antonella Porta, Luca Nanni, Guillaume Steible, Nicolas de Lepinay, Pierre Toussaint, Lionel Slama and Stéphane Pailler for their interventions and exchanges with the audience.

We would like also to thank all the attendees for their active involvement and look forward to seeing them again for the next steps of their training program.  

A dedicated post has been published on Econocom Group LinkedIn account, please do not hesitate to comment and share.

We invite you to respect the privacy and not to publish on social networks photos of other people without their prior consent.

The group recently published a letter outlining its decarbonising pledges as part of its ambitious strategic plan ‘One Econocom’. These commitments can be passed on to Econocom’s stakeholders.

This letter is specially designed to go hand in hand with our sales offers. Its purpose is to illustrate our positioning as a committed player in the circular economy. It is an extra tool that can be used to promote our approach, with an underlying commitment from our senior management based on three pillars as part of the ‘One Econocom’ strategic plan.

The first pillar is a reduction of our direct emissions. Indeed, Econocom has undertaken to reduce its emissions by 60% by 2028, compared to its emissions in 2018. This process will reduce our emissions by around 6% per year on average. Moreover, the group is committed to an energy transition: it plans for 90% of its energy sources to be green by 2028.

The second pillar is a reduction of our indirect emissions. Our main aim is to ensure that all our key suppliers respect the standards of the Science-Based Targets initiative* by 2028. In doing so, we aim to reduce by 50% our emissions relating to products and services bought by 2032, which will amount to a reduction of 6% per year on average.

Lastly, there is the third pillar: speeding up our development of innovative, eco-friendly offers and services. We are a responsible digital company out of conviction. So we undertake to expand our responsible offers and thereby help reduce our clients’ carbon footprint from digital technology.

Our progress along the path to these aims will always be tracked. A chart mapping the group’s carbon footprint will be published each year. For this approach to be implemented on a daily basis, it requires everyone to act responsibly. We need strong, collective willpower from the whole group to meet the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.

*The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is an initiative taken by international experts that uses scientific criteria to assess whether changes in greenhouse gas emissions from a firm or organisation are in line with the aim of limiting the planet’s average temperature rise to 2°C or 1.5°C.

«Our employees are key…»

Nadia Mansour, Deputy Managing Director of Econocom Morocco, studied in Nice and obtained a master’s degree in industrial engineering. She then made good use of her interest in finance by starting her career at Texas Instruments in the firm’s business planning team. This gave her the chance to work in an international environment. Next, she joined HP CDG as a program management officer, then as a human resources director. Later, she joined Econocom Morocco as Director of Human Resources. And in 2018 she became the entity’s Deputy Managing Director. Nadia is passionate about human issues and the challenges of employer branding. In this episode, she talks about the ‘Feel Good’ label of certification: an accreditation procedure for Econocom employees that gives the group even more added value in terms of expertise.

So listen to this new episode of Econocom Voices with Nadia Mansour as she shares her passion for hiking in the countryside around Nice and for Moroccan haute couture.

Click on the image to start listening to the podcast.

Anne Bruchon

Group Communication Director

Estimados colaboradores y agentes,

Para este nuevo año, me gustaría desearos lo mejor a vosotros, vuestras familias y amigos. Por favor, aceptad mis mejores deseos, que espero os inspiren.

El año 2024 amanece como una nueva página en la historia de nuestro Grupo, una página llena de promesas y oportunidades. Y me siento orgulloso y agradecido de presentarme ante vosotros como Presidente de este destacado Grupo.

Nuestra capacidad de permanecer unidos, de trabajar como una sola unidad, de superar fronteras y de celebrar nuestra diversidad a través de lo que hemos denominado «One Econocom» es una característica vital de nuestra fuerza.

«One Econocom» es el nombre de nuestro nuevo plan estratégico, que iniciamos para reavivar el fuerte crecimiento orgánico que hemos disfrutado en el pasado y ajustarnos a las necesidades de nuestros clientes, que cambian constantemente ante la globalización actual.

Este último año, ha sido un año de estabilidad y construcción gracias al esfuerzo de cada uno de vosotros:

• a pesar del aletargado mercado de la distribución informática, el ejercicio 2023 lo cerramos con el crecimiento que nos han aportado nuestras líneas de negocio de TMF y Servicios;
• al mismo tiempo, hemos desarrollado un plan estratégico para satisfacer mejor la demanda de nuestros clientes;
• y, por último, nos han recompensado por nuestro impacto en la sostenibilidad con una medalla de oro de EcoVadis (empresa independiente de evaluación extrafinanciera) y por nuestro compromiso con la diversidad con un puesto en el ranking de empresas europeas Diversity Leaders del Financial Times. 

Hoy quiero expresar mi gratitud por vuestro compromiso diario y trabajo duro.

Juntos, hemos superado retos y logrado avances significativos. Hemos reforzado los cimientos de nuestro Grupo con unos resultados sólidos, actividades empresariales reposicionadas en mercados en crecimiento, una nueva estructura directiva unificada y un nuevo plan estratégico para acelerar nuestro crecimiento.

En los albores de 2024, estoy convencido de que nuestra unidad es el catalizador de un crecimiento continuo.

También espero que este nuevo año marque el regreso gradual de los actos festivos. Estos momentos de cohesión y alegría compartida son el ADN del Grupo. El periodo Covid ayudó a impulsar el trabajo a distancia y el ‘hot desking’, pero también creó una sensación de aislamiento y debilitó los lazos sociales de forma perjudicial. Ahora me comprometo a restablecer estos lazos en 2024.

Crecer no es sólo perseguir el éxito financiero. También es señal de un fructífero trabajo en equipo, innovación constante y capacidad de adaptación al cambio.

Eso es lo que encarna nuestro nuevo plan estratégico, en el que hacemos hincapié en:

• El enorme refuerzo de nuestro equipo comercial -el vehículo de nuestro crecimiento orgánico- con el lanzamiento del programa «Misión Imposible», cuyo objetivo es contratar a 100 agentes en 1.000 días.
• La creación de «Business Development and Support», dirigida por Israel García, cuyo objetivo es estructurar nuestros acuerdos internacionales y alinear nuestras ofertas. Los primeros ejemplos que ilustran esta iniciativa, como los acuerdos con Mercedes y Daikin, demuestran el valor añadido que podemos aportar a nuestros clientes mediante la combinación de nuestras actividades o nuestros emplazamientos geográficos.
• El crecimiento externo selectivo que reforzará y ampliará nuestras áreas de especialización, especialmente en los ámbitos de infraestructuras y audiovisual.
• El claro objetivo que tenemos de mejorar nuestro impacto social y medioambiental.
• La modernización de todas nuestras herramientas, supervisado por Quentin Bouchard. 

Escribamos juntos esta nueva página de la historia de nuestro Grupo y tengamos presente el poder del trabajo en equipo y de la cohesión.

Que cada etapa que atravesemos refuerce nuestra unidad, contribuya a nuestra prosperidad colectiva y nos ayude a disfrutar de una aventura apasionante, como individuos y como Grupo.

Me gustaría que este nuevo año estuviera lleno de logros notables, retos superados y momentos compartidos.

Permitidme desearos a todos un magnífico año lleno de éxitos en 2024.

Jean-Louis Bouchard 

Dear all,

It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for at the end of the year: Econocom’s Group 2024 greetings card is now available! Entirely digital and 100% customizable, this card is a powerful expression of our new  strategic plan  .

You will find below all useful information to easily use it.

If you need any assistance or further information, Marion COURTOT, from the Communications Team, will be happy to guide you.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you an early happy festive season.

Patrick Van Den Berg                     Angel Benguigui

    Managing Director                         Managing Director

How to create a greetings card

• Go to: https://greetings2024.econocom.com/
  • : communication
  • : ZvaLX2mNk4