ALTEN SA announced its half‑year 2026 results on September 25 in Paris. Net income attributable to the group climbed 37.8% year‑on‑year to €113.8 million, representing 5.4% of revenue, up from 4.0% in the comparable period of 2025. Operating profit on activity rose 23.2% to €187.3 million, while the operating margin on activity expanded to 8.9%, a full percentage point above the 7.3% recorded in H1 2025.
Revenue reached €2,109.2 million, up 1.2% on a reported basis and 1.6% on a like‑for‑like basis. Free cash flow increased 33% to €104.3 million, equal to 4.9% of revenue. The company ended the period with €313 million of net cash and a negative gearing ratio of 14.0%.
Share price reacted positively, gaining 6.5% in after‑hours trading to $75.08, roughly 9% above the 52‑week low of $50.55 and 10% below the 52‑week high of $83.70. ALTEN executed €65 million of share buybacks, equivalent to about 2.4% of its 35.5 million shares outstanding, bringing total market capitalization to approximately €2.3 billion.
Geographically, France contributed €749.6 million of revenue, a 4.4% reported increase, with aerospace, defense and energy accounting for 63% of the French mix. International operations, representing 64.5% of total revenue, posted modest 0.8% like‑for‑like growth. The Iberian region delivered the strongest performance, with reported growth of 9.5% and organic growth of 7.0%. Germany and the United Kingdom posted organic gains of 1.1% and 1.5% respectively, while the Nordics, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Asia‑Pacific and North America saw declines ranging from 3.9% to 12.5%.
Sector exposure shifted further toward aeronautics, space, defense and energy, now 40% of total revenue, while automotive fell to 13.7% from 20% in 2022. Energy and environment services accounted for 11.9% of revenue, with key clients including EDF, Schneider, Technip and TotalEnergies.
ALTEN highlighted its AI strategy, reporting that 75% of its workforce has been trained on AI technologies. More than 1,000 AI‑impacted work packages involving over 7,000 engineers were deployed in H1, delivering an average 10% productivity uplift. AI is now embedded in 30% of group projects, and 80% of the value of RFPs includes AI components. Strategic technology partners cited were Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Mistral, Nvidia, Dataiku, AWS and Snowflake.
M&A activity included two acquisitions adding €90 million of revenue and 700 consultants: an IT services firm in France (€68 million revenue, 470 consultants) and an automotive‑focused business in Germany (€22 million revenue, 230 consultants). A life‑sciences business generating €11.5 million in revenue was disposed of. The company indicated a pipeline of more than eight targets under due diligence.
Guidance for the full year 2026 was lifted, with organic growth now expected at 1.7%‑1.9% and the operating margin on activity projected at approximately 9.2%, implying a stronger second half compared with the 8.9% achieved in H1.
Management emphasized that growth has returned across all regions, AI is delivering tangible business value, and major engineering customers are redirecting AI‑generated savings toward additional services rather than cuts.
