CLOUD
Bull's profit falls 62% on lower supercomputer sales
Bull said 2013 income fell 62%, as its sales were hurt by reduced supercomputer orders. In fourth quarter of 2012, Bull won several major supercomputer orders. Similar orders did not recur in 2013. Therefore, order intake decreased to €432.0 million in the fourth quarter. As a result, net income was €10.9 million in 2013, as opposed to €28.6 million in 2012.
Innovative Products drives the Group's development in supercomputers and high-performance servers. Computing Solutions designs, builds and runs critical IT infrastructures, including data centers, HPC infrastructures and cloud computing solutions.
Innovative Products & Computing Solutions | |||
(€ millions) | 2013 | 2012(r) | Change |
Order intake | 814.5 | 916.5 | (11.1%) |
Book-to-bill ratio | 99% | 110% |
|
Revenues | 820.0 | 835.6 | (1.9%) |
of which HPC | 172.1 | 176.3 |
|
Profit contribution | 81.0 | 84.7 | (4.3%) |
Margin (%) | 9.9% | 10.1% | (0.2pt) |
In 2013, order intake totaled €814.5 million, giving a book-to-bill ratio close to 100%. Order intake fell 11.1% compared with very strong levels in 2012.
Revenue totaled €820.0 million in 2013, slightly down 1.9% compared with 2012. Growth in "Le cloud by Bull and outsourcing services almost offset the lower revenues from projects, products and maintenance for IT infrastructure. Revenues in extreme computing followed the same pattern, totaling €172.1 million.
The combined profit contribution from Computing Solutions and Innovative Products totaled €81.0 million, down €3.7 million relative to 2012. The contribution margin rose significantly in the second half, and over the full year was almost unchanged.
Philippe Vannier, Chairman and CEO of Bull, commented: "The economic environment in 2013 was tensed overall, particularly in the first half. In the second half of the year, we improved cash generation and profitability. With our "One Bull" strategic plan for 2014-2017, we will combine our key skills to become the trusted operator for enterprise data. Through this plan, we are also aiming to continue improving performance, with the target of doubling earnings by 2017 and achieving an EBIT margin of 7%."