French technology company Atos (OTCPK:AEXAF) (OTCPK:AEXAY) appointed Paul Saleh as CEO, who will take over from Yves Bernaert, effective immediately.
Atos’ stock slumped about 13% on Monday on the Euronext Paris stock exchange.
Saleh has been group CFO since August 2023, and this role would now be taken up by Jacques-François de Prest, effective Jan. 29, the company added.
Jacques-François de Prest joins Atos from Mobivia, where he served as CFO and Performance Leader. Before that, he spent over 20 years in the telecommunications industry, including senior finance roles at Vodafone and Millicom.
Saleh is taking over from Bernaert “who leaves the Group after an intense period of transformation,” the company said in a press release on Monday. Bernaert had joined the company in October 2023 from Accenture.
Saleh is Atos’ fifth CEO in less than two-and-a-half years, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
Atos added that Sujatha “Suja” Chandrasekaran and Monika Maurer were appointed as new independent directors.
In addition, the company said that it will meet its financial guidance for the year for revenue and profits.
However, Atos expects free cash flow to be slightly below its target approximately by -100 million euros, for the second half of the year.
Atos noted that as per its market update issued on Jan. 3, the company’s strategy has been adjusted in light of financial constraints to ensure the repayment and refinancing of its financial debts while maintaining an attractive business mix.
The company also confirmed that it has not filed a request to appoint a mandataire ad hoc or to open conciliation proceedings; and the company reserves the right to use available legal mechanisms, Atos noted.
On Jan. 3 it was reported that Airbus was considering buying Atos’ data and cybersecurity division BDS, which would likely give the unit an enterprise value of about $2B.