In dire financial straits, Atos warned on Thursday that it needed additional liquidity and would therefore revise its refinancing plan presented just two weeks ago.

At the beginning of April, Atos presented its long-awaited refinancing plan, which was based on raising 1.2 billion euros in new money and converting half of its debt into shares.

But the downturn in business in the first quarter forced the group to revise its business plan for 2024-2027, "resulting in an increase in the need for new liquidity and potentially additional debt reduction", Atos said.

A communication to the market on the new parameters of the refinancing plan will be made in the coming days, the group said.

On the Paris Bourse, Atos shares were down 7.54% at 1.84 euros at 07:05 GMT.

Atos, which holds assets considered strategic by the French government, had hoped to begin a turnaround with the sale of its BDS (Big Data & Security) business to Airbus and that of its Tech Foundations branch, which groups its IT consulting activities, to Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky. But both operations failed.

The Group has extended the deadline for refinancing proposals to May 3, one of which is expected to come from Onepoint, Atos' largest shareholder with 11.4% of the capital.

At the same time, Atos is in talks with its banks to restructure its debt, and still hopes to reach an agreement with its financial creditors by July.

At the end of March, Atos' debt reached 3.9 billion euros, compared with 2.3 billion at the end of December, while cash and cash equivalents fell by 1.4 billion euros in three months.

Sales for the first three months of the year fell by 2.6% on an organic basis, to 2.479 billion euros, and operating margin dropped to 1.9% from 3.3% a year earlier.

(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Kate Entringer)