UK public sector contracts keep Atos Origin Q3 results buoyant

A number of large public sector contracts buoyed IT services company Atos Origin in the third quarter, with the outsourcer reporting double-digit growth.

Atos Origin grew its UK market 10% to €426m, compared with the same quarter the year before. But Atos's overall revenues increased just 0.2% euro € 2.18bn.

Atos recently signed a large outsourcing deal with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and a shared services agreement with the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency for £400m and £140m respectively.

Thierry Breton, chairman and CEO of Atos, said: “In the third quarter, we achieved a very strong order entry with new large deals signed in the UK, Germany and Scandinavia, despite a challenging economic environment for cyclical activities. 

"Together with the major wins signed in the first half of 2012, this will contribute to secure our 2013 targets.”

During the third quarter of 2012, the UK accelerated the development of its business and delivered its strategy to offer IT solutions for the public sector, said Atos.

Anthony Miller, founder of analyst firm TechMarketView, said Atos is likely to be ahead of its competitors Steria, Capgemini and Logica in the UK, whose results are also due to be announced.

“It seems hard to conceive that any of these players will be able to rival Atos’ growth in the UK,” Miller said.