Full Year 2021 Sopra Steria Group SA Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Nicolas David - ODDO BHF Corporate & Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Congratulations, Cyril, for this appointment. I'd like to congratulate Vincent as well for what you've done since 2015. Now 3 questions to ask you. First of all, can you tell us more about the margin improvement drivers in 2022? You would expect a good margin improvement in the context when we have wage increases. So can we expect a sharp increase in the banking software performance as early as 2022? Or perhaps in services, you're not yet back to the levels you had before the crisis or both. If you have any detail, please. And then what are the moving parts between the upper part and the lower part of the guidance bracket. Now second question. I think it's the first time that you're giving us a specific date for the midterm margin, that is 2024. So my question is what is changed then? Do you think you have better visibility? Do you have more comfort to mention the date now? And my third question is staff or head count. Can you tell a little more about Q4 organic net recruitments and your objectives in 2022 as far as hiring policy is concerned? And I have another question as well about subcontracting. 150, as what -- you had plus 800 in 9 months. So was there a decrease in Q4? If yes, why, please?

Question: Nicolas David - ODDO BHF Corporate & Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. And what about subcontracting? Is there a number you can give us? The trends, the dynamics and what you're going to do in 2022, will you work more with subcontractors? Or will you hire more people and therefore, work less with subcontractors?

Question: Nicolas David - ODDO BHF Corporate & Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. So there's been no decrease in subcontractor during Q4. Am I correct? How should we interpret the number?

Question: Nicolas David - ODDO BHF Corporate & Markets, Research Division - Analyst : So you think that 2022 is going to be more like H2 2021 in terms of total number of recruitments?

Question: Gregory K. Ramirez - Bryan Garnier & Co Ltd, Research Division - Analyst : I just wanted to come back to headcount for Q4. Just a clarification because when I calculate the attrition, which is integrated into Q4, so net increase was 511 for Q4. So obviously, that's -- we've got the acquisitions as well, so Eva and EGGS. This brings me to 150 recruitments -- net recruitments in Q4, whereas in Q3, I had calculated 620 if we take the Labs acquisition on the 30th of September. Is this -- has I made the right calculation? Or how can we explain the fact that we've only got an increase -- quite a low increase in headcount? And obviously, taken into account the attrition in Q4. I also have a question with regards to the attrition trends that we're seeing in IT services. And obviously, we're seeing that this is increasing across the board elsewhere. But with Sopra Steria, we haven't yet hit the level -- the highest levels of the market in 2018, 2019. Some stakeholders obviously exceeded these attrition rates. So how can you explain the fact that the attrition rate is held at rates that are lower than what we saw before the REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. FEBRUARY 24, 2022 / 8:00AM, SOPR.PA - Full Year 2021 Sopra Steria Group SA Earnings Call crisis? Is that Sopra Steria is more exposed in France or in the [Bergen] region or we've got less exposition more generally speaking with regards to our customers? So how do you explain this?

Question: Nicolas David - ODDO BHF Corporate & Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Could you give us an estimation of the P&L cost for the incentive line or the employee shareholding plan for the coming years?