Assystem - 2015 Registration Document

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REPORTS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Procurement and General Resources Department then intervenes at the different levels of negotiation to ensure the monitoring of leases in France, and if necessary outside of France. Regular budgetary reviews on premises, both inside and outside of France, enable a regular exchange of information to take place between the General Services and Management Control Departments to update data on the existing premises and analyse on-going and future projects. Delegations of authority The principles of delegations of authority implemented meet a triple objective: ● raise awareness of operational directors on their responsibilities in terms of health and safety; ● create a power of representation for the Assystem Group for the benefit of operational directors; ● fix a precise framework within which the operational directors’ authority is exercised (including the possibility for sub-delegation). The delegations mainly concern commitments directly linked to operational areas (hiring of consultants or sales managers, signature of customer contracts, dispute management, etc). Bank signatures are only partly delegated, in France and abroad, and for limited amounts. Budgeting and management control The Group’s different operational units draft and present their strategy and annual budget to the General Management. The Group’s annual budget is then approved by the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors. The Group Finance Department carries out a monthly analysis and cross- check of the content of key reporting indicators in order to identify any variation from forecasts and detect any significant shortfalls (notably in terms of the gross margin on contracts, operating gross margin and the operational non-billing rate and client payment times), and propose remedial measures if required. Purchases Purchasing procedures are subject to independent controls: ● purchase of the material or service by the concerned department (general services, IT…); ● validation of the service and/or delivery by the concerned service; ● validation of the payment authorisation and invoice by the Accounting Department based on the different documents. Payment of invoices is organised by the Accounting Department, which ensures that upstream controls have been carried out and by survey also checks the information that enabled the invoices to be validated. The Group has strengthened its General Purchase Conditions. ● issue of the need by the internal client;

and countries) as well as projects that have specific characteristics or are exposed to specific risks. They are used to assess the technical and financial progress of projects and update the understanding of associated risks, and if needed, define appropriate action plans and determine the ways and means to implement them (both for clients and in-house). Human resources, recruitment, and payroll management Human resource requirements are determined by line management, and the corresponding recruitment procedures are defined and managed by each country’s Human Resources Department. Overall budgets for remuneration increases are managed at the level of each operating entity and each country and are reviewed and validated by the management team. Administrative procedures Sales All customer account openings in France are subject to an enquiry to assure the client’s solvability (supported by a monitoring process to alert the Company to any major changes in solvability). All customer accounts are integrated into a recovery procedure based on adapted reminder scenarii. For this, the Company uses customer account and recovery management software in France. This application is engaged at different levels from the moment the invoice is issued: pre-reminders before the due date, reminders, identification of payment delays, identification of disputes and monitoring of their resolution, inventory of payment promises (and verification of invoice payment at the announced dates). Similar procedures, adapted on a case-by-case basis to the specific businesses and countries, are implemented in the Group’s other entities abroad. The resources thus engaged to prevent client risks and to improve the effectiveness of trade receivables recovery allow the Group, as far as possible, to limit losses on the latter, and ensure good generation of operational cash flow. In addition, strict internal rules applicable to all consolidated entities state, depending on the type of projects (mainly time and materials, work packages and fixed rate) and activites, stipulate the revenue recognition procedures. The Group has implemented reinforced General Conditions of Service, which are systematically integrated into responses to calls for tender. Real estate The expression of needs in the search for new premises is formalised by each operational manager, validated by the appropriate Business Unit director and transmitted to the Group’s general services and/or the country for processing and examination of the corresponding business case. The study of the project and the dimensioning and cost of premises selected come under the responsibility of the General Management.

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ASSYSTEM

FINANCIAL REPORT 2015