180 / 198
REPORTS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
8
REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Disposals – Acquisitions
The identification of acquisition targets and their pre-qualification is
initiated by a dedicated department and/or the operational divisions
concerned, then validated by the General Management and the Finance
Department.
Following operational, financial, HR, tax and legal audits, whose aim
is to validate the compatibility of targets with the business model, the
financial performance and identification of possible risks, acquisition
proposals are presented to the Board of Directors for approval.
Acquired companies are immediately integrated into the Group’s
operational and management reporting process. Depending on their
size, the Group’s information systems are deployed to guarantee the
reliability of financial information.
Asset or securities disposals are validated by the Board of Directors
and the General Management and are subject to management and
monitoring at Group level, in liason with the operational divisions
concerned.
Communication of results
The preparation and validation of press releases and investor
presentations concerning the Group’s results are governed by a specific
procedure involving the Group’s executive management team, the
Finance Department, the Communications Department and the Statutory
Auditors. Draft earnings releases are submitted to the Audit Committee
and the Board of Directors for review.
The Group implements all reasonable means to provide regular, reliable,
clear and transparent information to its shareholders and to financial
analysts.
Information is provided through press releases, by the quarterly
publication of the Group’s revenue and by the half-yearly and yearly
publication of its financial results.
Twice yearly, the Group organises “SFAF” meetings, when publishing its
financial results, and four times per year, telephone conferences when
publishing its quarterly revenue figures.
Tools
The Group has put in place a set of key indicators which enable it to
monitor project management. These indicators are monitored during
quarterly project reviews carried out with operations by the Deputy CEO
& Chief Financial Officer and the Executive Vice-President in charge
of HR development. The Group’s financial reporting also includes a
series of indicators and aggregates which allow for a finely-tuned
analysis of the performance of the various subsidiaries and business
units. In addition to these indicators, the Group also specifically monitors
its indirect costs, billable staff time and billing rates. All of the tools
implemented are also rounded out by the Group’s internal control
measures.
8.1.3.3.2 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
The intranet and the reporting and consolidation system are the two
centralised communication channels used by the Group to relay key
information that is necessary for the people concerned to exercise their
responsibilities.
The Group’s intranet includes the QMS manual and the main procedures
applicable at local level The procedures concern IT, human resources
and business management.
All of the subsidiaries are equipped with the reporting and consolidation
system (LINK), It is the platform for the financial information published by
the Group. An accounting guide is distributed to all Group subsidiaries
to ensure that information is submitted in a standardised fashion.
The Group communicates with its subsidiaries by circulating
memorandums and procedures in order to ensure that matters affecting
the Group as a whole, such as investments, cash management, the
monitoring of trade receivables, etc., are dealt with in a consistent
manner.
Lastly, subsidiaries are responsible for setting up and maintaining
information systems that are compatible with the Group’s objectives in
terms of reporting financial information and managing projects. At this
stage, the Group has not opted to implement a common management
information system for all its subsidiaries as the nature of its activities
does not require it. It is, however, attentive to the harmonisation of the
labels and content of its key performance indicators for comparable
activities, in order to carry out transversal analyses (in particular project
profitability analyses) on the same basis and to facilitate skills exchanges
between business units and countries.
180
ASSYSTEM
FINANCIAL REPORT
2015