Sligos SA, France’s second-largest systems integrator, was, as reported briefly (CI No 2,640), an exception to an improved 1994 for French system developers. Although its revenues were up 7.6% (2.3% on a like-for-like basis), the company reported a net loss equivalent to about $30m, against a net profit of $33.5m in 1993. The loss resulted from an exceptional charge of $30m for the cost of acquisitions and a $19.4m charge for restructuring costs. Sligos’s board of directors evidently wanted to clean up the company’s balance sheet before selling off the subsidiary of troubled Credit Lyonnais. Since March 17, Sligos has been affiliated with the bank’s Realisation Consortium, which consists of some $28,000m of bank assets to be divested as quickly as possible. Credit Lyonnais currently holds 55.1% of Sligos’s equity; another 3.5% is held by state-owned bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations and the rest is held by individual shareholders.The company is actively seeking an industrial partner that would be able to help develop its business. In a report in Les Echos, chief executive Henri Pascaud said such a partner could be financiers or telecommunications companies. Despite its reduced bottom line result, the company noted some encouraging indicators for 1995. Its cash generation rose to $48.5m, and its net cash increased to about $94.8m in 1994.
