Sopra Steria reports strong first-quarter growth on defense and consulting demand

Sopra Steria’s first-quarter numbers point to a market shift that goes beyond a single strong quarter: European clients are still spending on consulting, defense and sovereign technology even as the broader IT backdrop stays uneven. The French group reported revenue of €1,463.2 million for the period, up 3.4% on a reported basis and 3.2% at constant scope and exchange rates. Excluding the wind-down of its SFT programme for Sparda banks, underlying organic growth was 4.4%.

That matters because the company’s strongest areas were also the ones most tied to Europe’s current security and digital-sovereignty priorities. Sopra Steria said Consulting and the Aeronautics and Defence, Security & Space businesses both saw sustained growth, with Aeronautics up 15% and Defence, Security & Space up 7% in the quarter. All of the group’s reporting units grew, including France, the United Kingdom, Europe excluding SFT and Solutions, a sign that demand was broad-based rather than confined to one market.

The SFT programme is important for reading the quarter correctly. Sopra Steria said the contract had been scheduled since early 2023 and cut first-quarter growth by 1.2 percentage points as it ended. That detail suggests the quarter was not inflated by a one-off burst of work. Instead, the underlying trend was stronger than the headline number showed, with defense, consulting and other core services offsetting the loss of a large legacy programme.

New chief executive Rajesh Krishnamurthy, appointed on December 11, 2025 and effective February 2, 2026, has been steering the company toward public services, defense and European clients. The first-quarter figures gave him an early test of that strategy. Sopra Steria said the results reinforced its position in markets sensitive to digital sovereignty, where governments and large institutions want more secure, locally controlled systems for data and artificial intelligence.

The company also confirmed its 2026 goal of 1% to 2% organic revenue growth and announced a new €40 million share buyback, underscoring confidence in cash generation. That confidence is backed by 2025 results showing revenue of €5.648 billion, an operating margin on business activity of 9.5%, net profit up 18.3% to €296.8 million and free cash flow of €340.9 million. For Europe’s IT services market, Sopra Steria’s quarter suggests defense and consulting budgets are being protected by geopolitics and modernization needs, not merely delayed by a weak cycle.