European IT services company Atos Origin posted first quarter revenue of EUR 1.42bn (£1.12bn), flat compared to the EUR 1.44bn (£1.14bn) reported a year earlier.

The figures look healthier once adjusted to take into account the sale of Atos’ loss making Italian and AEMS Exchange operations on 31st January 2008, which helped the company reduce its net debt from EUR411m (£325m) in Q1 2007 to EUR304m (£240m) in Q1 2008.

First quarter revenues excluding these units were EUR1.36bn (£1.1bn), up six per cent year on year. UK sales yielded EUR238m (£188m), down six per cent from EUR 252m (£199m) in the first quarter of 2007.

Atos’ Systems Integration division showed the strongest performance, netting EUR 668m (£528m) compared to EUR 535m (£423m) a year earlier. Managed Operations grew by 3 per cent to EUR 708m (£560m), but revenues from the Consulting division fell seven per cent to EUR 88m (£70m) from EUR 95m (£75m).