Danone S.A. (BN) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

It's 2:30. Let's begin. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good afternoon. This year, once again, as you can see, it's in a very particular context that this AGM is being held. First and foremost, I hope that you, your family and relatives are well given the current health situation. In order to preserve everyone's health, this combined general meeting is being held exceptionally behind closed doors without the physical presence of shareholders and other persons entitled to attend as per the framework set out by the order of 25th of March 2020 but also as extended by order December 2, 2020 and the decree dated 9th March 2021. So it's in a restricted committee that I'll be leading the meeting. At my side with distances in accordance with health restrictions, Madam Veronique Penchienati-Bosetta, Co-CEO; Mr. Juergen Esser, CFO in charge of technology and data; and Mr. Laurent Sacchi, Board Secretary. I'd like to thank all the shareholders who voted remotely ahead of this meeting and all those who are currently following the live broadcast on the company website. And I declare this combined general meeting open and will act as Chair. As Chairman of the Board of Directors, I will now establish the meeting bureau as per applicable legal provisions. Two scrutineers have been appointed from the meeting among shareholders holding the greatest number of votes at the convening date: Madam Corinne Ferriere, representing Amundi; and Mr. Cyril Blanc, representing the Danone FCPE. Thank you for agreeing to act as tellers. I propose that we appoint Mr. Laurent Sacchi, Board Secretary, as meeting secretary. Also present in the room, we have Mr. Jean-Michel Severino, Lead Independent Director of Danone, who chairs the Governance Committee and who will, in a few moments, deliver the report of the lead independent director for 2020 and early 2021. In addition, we have present Mr. Gilles Cohen from Ernst & Young audit, who is present on behalf of the group of statutory auditors and who will deliver the conclusions of their work. And over now to Mr. Laurent Sacchi, who will present the various formalities required for this AGM.

Thank you, Chairman. Good afternoon. Given the current situation, I confirm that this AGM is being held behind closed doors, consistent with health requirements. Speakers are without facemask but will place it as soon as they finish speaking. All the formalities, as per law, have been accomplished. The prior notice of meeting was published in the mandatory bulletin of official notices on March 21 followed by a follow-up on the 31st of March. Now the convening notice for this combined general meeting was published in the BALO and in the Petites Affiches gazette of the 7th of April 2021. As per law, several shareholders representing some 0.7% of capital sent to the company by e-mail on 31st of March, 1st of April and 2nd of April, last followed by registered letters with a notice of receipt to request to place a specific item on the agenda of this AGM, without this point being accompanied by resolution put to the vote of shareholders Phitrust, Mirova, Ircantec, Caisse d'Assurance Vieillesse des Pharmaciens and OFI Asset Management. So this item requested by the 5 shareholders with the rationale of the shareholders and the comments of the Board with the subject of an addendum to the convening notice published on the company website on the 7th of April 2021. Furthermore, an amendment to the notice of meeting was published in the BALO and in the Petites Affiches on the 14th of April 2021 to take account of those developments. So this meeting is being held upon first convening notice. Let me remind you that all the document and information required by law were communicated or made available to shareholders and the Social and Economic Committee. I will now read the agenda for this AGM that numbers 28 resolutions within the ordinary and extraordinary shareholders' meeting that you'll be asked to vote on. First of all, the agenda within the authority of the ordinary shareholders' meeting is as follows: first resolution, approval of the financial statements for FY ended December 31, 2020; approval of the consolidated financial statement for FY ended December 31; third, allocation of earnings for FY ended December 31 and setting of the dividend at EUR 1.94 per share; fourth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mr. Guido Barilla as director; fifth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Madame Cecile Cabanis; sixth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mr. Michel Landel as director; Seventh resolution, renewal of the term of office of Madame Serpil Timuray; eighth resolution, ratification of the co-opting of Mr. Gilles Schnepp as director; ninth resolution, approval of agreements entered into with the SICAV Danone Communities referred to in Articles L.225 and subsequent of the French communal code, these are the related party agreement; 10th, approval of the information regarding the compensation of directors and officers; 11th, approval of the items of compensation paid in or awarded for FY 2020 to Mr. Emmanuel Faber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; 12th resolution, approval of the compensation policy for corporate officers for FY 2021; 13th resolution, setting the amount of directors' aggregate annual compensation; 14th, approval of the compensation policy for directors for '21 fiscal year; 15th resolution, authorization granted to the Board to purchase, retain or transfer companies' shares. That's for the ordinary general meeting as initially planned. Agenda within the authority of the extraordinary shareholders' meeting numbers 10 resolutions. Resolution 16, delegation of authority to the Board to issue with preferential subscription right of shareholders with maintenance -- shares and securities; 17, delegation to the Board to issue without preferential subscription right of the shareholders but with the obligation to grant a priority right, ordinary shares and securities; 18, delegation of authority to the Board to increase the number of securities without preferential subscription rights for the shareholders; 19, delegation of authority to the Board to issue ordinary shares and securities without preferential subscription right of shareholders in the event of a public exchange offer initiated by the company; 20, delegation of powers to the Board to issue ordinary shares and securities without preferential subscription right of shareholders in consideration for contributions in kind granted to the company and comprised of equity securities or securities giving access to share capital; 21st resolution, delegation of authority to increase the company's share capital through incorporation of reserves, profits, premiums or any other amounts that may be capitalized; 22, delegation of authority to the Board to increase the share capital in favor of employees who are members of the company's savings plan and/or to carry out reserved sales of securities without preferential subscription right of shareholders; 23, delegation to the Board to increase the share capital in favor of categories of beneficiaries made up of employees working within foreign companies of Danone's group or in international mobility in the framework of employee shareholding plans without preferential subscription right of the shareholders; 24, authorization to the Board to grant existing or newly issued shares of the company without preferential subscription right of the shareholders; 25, authorization granted to the Board to reduce the share capital by canceling shares. 26th resolution and the 2 subsequent are within the authority of the ordinary shareholders' meeting. This one is powers to carry out formalities. That's 26. 27th was added, and you have it in your documents, the approval of the compensation policy for the interim executive corporate officers for fiscal year 2021. 28, approval of the components of compensation paid in or awarded for '21 fiscal year to Mr. Emmanuel Faber, Chairman and CEO until his departure. Now as I said, an item on the agenda was requested by shareholders totaling 0.7% of voting rights, and I will read it. You'll find the full text on the website. It's asked each director currently in office or whose renewal of office is submitted to the vote of shareholders' meeting is asked to present to shareholders his or her strategic vision for the group, and in particular; his or her opinion for the Local First plan and its developments in economic social terms, his or her position on maintaining the status of purpose-driven company; his or her approach to environmental matters concerning the resources to be deployed to help the group achieve the goal of the Paris accord; fourthly, his or her opinions on the organization of the company's governance and specifically the continuing necessity to separate management powers. Now to the quorum. Let me remind you that this is behind closed doors. Shareholders were invited to express their vote remotely before this meeting conditions as per law. The vote was closed yesterday afternoon, and the results will be disclosed during the course of the meeting. Like last year, a shareholder exceeds the limit voting rights of 6% of the total voting rights attached to the shares in circulation. It's the threshold that represents 40,551,915 as provided by Article 26 of the bylaws. Consequently, the shares of the shareholder exceeding the 6% threshold were deprived of voting in application of this limit, leading to a reduction of 2,704,306 of its voting rights. After the closing of the attendance sheet, the shareholders' vote possess totally 414,682,000 shares. That is the 647,011,604 voting shares. That's a proportion of 64.09% of said shares. That is over the 25% quorum required for this AGM. The legal quorum has therefore been reached. And in respect of an AGM behind closed door without a vote, the quorum is final. The AGM may take valid decisions. Today, lastly, as per the recommendation of the Financial Markets Authority on the vote of general assemblies of October 2018, I can inform you, 28th of April '21 at 6 p.m., the company rejected 2 voting instructions. They represent 153,158 shares and [ 157,084 ] voting rights. They were rejected as per rule because of the nullity of voting instructions or because they were received too late. These instructions will not be included in the quorum figure that I've just disclosed. Let me remind you that this broad meeting is broadcast live, French and English, on the Danone website where you are currently listening to. Back to you, Chairman.

Thank you very much, Company Secretary. Before presenting the interventions for this general meeting, as you know, your company has undergone a very painful governance crisis since last autumn with a series of departures from the senior management team, criticism from shareholders both on the group's performance on the plan that was initially proposed or reorganizing the group under Local First, and finally, strong expectations on the part of the Board regarding a change in the governance of the group. This crisis led to a media storm, which threatened to disrupt the running of the company. And it ended, as you know, with the decision taken by the Board to replace our CEO on the 14th of March. On behalf of all the shareholders, I wish to thank Emmanuel Faber for his commitment, his unswerving commitment to Danone since 1997, and in particular, his contribution to refocusing the company's business on health and plant-based nutrition, and in particular, for upholding and illustrating the very special model of Danone. I would like to wish him on all our behalf all the very best for his future endeavors. Further to this decision, the Board established a twin organization with a nonexecutive independent chair. I have been given this responsibility by the Board. And an interim CEO, which has been entrusted to Veronique Penchienati-Bosetta and to Shane Grant, who are, respectively, Co-CEO and Deputy Co-CEO. In parallel with this decision, the Board has launched a search for a CEO as soon as possible in order to ensure the growth of our group. And of course, I will be going back to some of these items during the course of today's shareholders' meeting. Now by way of introduction, I would like to convey the thanks of the Board to the Danone teams, to the 100,000 Danoners, as we call them here, first of all, for the great resilience against the backdrop of a pandemic that has continued and which has had a lasting impact on our markets and some of our categories. And I also wish to thank them because notwithstanding the media hype that I was referring to a moment ago regarding the governance crisis in recent months, these teams have upheld with great condition, and the CEO will be talking to you about this later on, the group's positions in market share in 120 countries where it operates. Now that's for the -- by way of an introduction, I would present the various -- introduce the various interventions that will be made during this general meeting. First of all, Mr. Severino, in his due capacity as Chairperson of the Governance Committee and the Lead Director, will talk about the 2 initiatives that are underway. The first initiative concerns the recruitment of the future CEO of the group, to which I've just referred. In this respect, I'm happy to say that we have made speedy progress, thanks to the great interest shown for Danone by several very talented individuals who have strong experience of the mass market business. They have an international dimension to their career, a personal track record with very strong performance. And also, I think this is something that we wanted to emphasize in our search. They have an unquestionable compatibility with the culture, the values and the societal commitment of Danone. And also among the criteria that we have set out, they have a knowledge and a commitment to the Local First project and to all that it can contribute to the group. We'll be talking about this again with you, of course, dear shareholders, in the weeks ahead. The second initiative concerns the work on changes in the makeup of the membership of the Board. We've undertaken this with the help of an internationally recognized consultancy firm, which would help us establish in a lasting manner exemplary governance worthy of Danone's reputation in the field of the environment, social affairs, the 2 other dimensions that are now referred to as CSR. So both of these missions are extremely important. They are being driven under the aegis of Jean-Michel with great energy and vision. The Board is benefiting from his excellent knowledge of the group on the matters for which he's responsible. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Board as a whole because it has had to work very hard over this whole period. It has made itself available at all times. It has shown great commitment, and this continues. And I would, in particular, like to pay tribute to 2 Board members who have been great servants of Danone and for whom this is their last term. Benoit Potier needs no introducing. He's the CEO of another major global company, Air Liquide. He brings to the Board the knowledge and experience of a great captain of industry, and he has a broad and very accurate vision over the past 18 years. Benoit Potier has made his mark on the Board by being constantly available, by his stringency, his levelheadedness, his demanding but constructive attitude, his ambition for Danone and also his constant emphasis on balance and fair judgment. His contribution both in [ the company ] and in the committees to which he has been taking part, Benoit is one of the few directors who has sat on all of the committees. His contribution is often being decisive. And when he speaks, he's always shown that you may -- you can be a Board member for many, many years and yet you continue to display remarkable independence of judgment and spirit. So after 6 terms, Benoit, nevertheless has felt that it was time for him to hand over to someone else, which, of course, we can fully understand, but we're sorry about that. The departure of Virginia Stallings is due to other reasons. After 3 terms as director and 9 years serving Danone and maybe a little bit more if we include her previous contribution to the development of the Danone Institute, Virginia has, in fact, reached retirement age. My recent arrival and the pandemic unfortunately have prevented me from meeting Virginia in person. But through a few Board meetings and meetings, I've quickly understood why her contribution was so greatly appreciated by other Board members and looking beyond that by the Danone team with whom she interacted. As a pediatrics professor, Virginia enabled the Board to benefit from the acuity of her views, the relevance of her views regarding scientific matters and responsibility in nutritional matters. And Virginia very quickly gained a high degree of respect from the team with her ability to set the debate in the right place, to reason clearly on all themes, matters and to express the authentic personal courageous positions with an acute sense of collective responsibility in the interest of Danone and all its stakeholders. She has displayed as a member and chairperson of the Committee for Social Responsibility commitment in all her interactions despite being away from us since she's based in the United States. Now after Mr. Severino's intervention, the next one will be that of Pascal Lamy, who is Chairperson of the Mission Committee, which is in charge of monitoring our initiatives in this regard since the company has included its mission in its statute. I wish to take the opportunity of this intervention -- Mr. Lamy's intervention to reaffirm -- to solely reaffirm Danone's commitments in extra financial matters. These commitments go back to the early '70s with the Dual Project, dual goals, both economic and social, of Antoine Riboud, the implementation by Franck Riboud of the mission, which is defined as health and nutrition for all. And this gives me an opportunity to commend the initiatives of Emmanuel Faber after his 2 predecessors, Antoine and Franck Riboud, regarding extra financial matters through the framework of One Planet. One Health, the inclusion of the company's mission in its statutes and the goal of a B Corp certification for the group by 2025. These are our goals, which are consistent with the historic goals of the company, and this opens up a new chapter for the group. Danone is one of the global leaders in agri-food business. And its specific responsibility is to deal with the major societal, environmental issues of our consumers and our stakeholders. The Board will ensure, in particular, that the work continues on managing resources and packaging, in particular, in a manner that is consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. So the changes, developments in our governance that I've referred to will improve governance by separating the duties of Chairperson and CEO and by enabling the company with a nonexecutive chairpersonship. And this does not in any way call into question the environmental, social commitments of the group. I wish to emphasize our conviction that the group's performance cannot be separated from its unique model as an enterprise, as a mission-driven company. And Pascal Lamy will confirm that in just a moment. In the next sequence, the management of the company will provide an update on the initiatives of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, first of all, with Mr. Juergen Esser, who is the CFO and Director of Technology and Data; and then with Madam Veronique Penchienati-Bosetta and Shane Grant, who are, respectively, CEO -- Co-CEO and Deputy Co-CEO. In this respect, I wish to thank the company's senior management for going well beyond their duties in ensuring the missions that have been entrusted to them and which have enabled us, as you will see, to maintain in recent months a focus on the group's businesses, on its results and on the reorganization plan called Local First, which seeks to make the group more agile, more effective by giving greater responsibility to the operational teams across all regions of the group. The Board has recently reaffirmed its full support to the plan, which is currently in the phase of information and consultation with the staff representative bodies. I now hand over to Mr. Severino.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to present to you for the first time as the Chairperson of the Governance Committee and as Lead Director. Before I go on to the central points referred to by Mr. Gilles Schnepp, I would like to say that the company's work was very intense -- intensive in 2020 and '21. The work of the Governance Committee was conducted in 2021, Mr. Michel Landel as the Lead Director and Chairperson of the Governance Committee, who has done a remarkable job for the Board throughout this mandate. I wish to thank him for this. I succeeded him on the 1st of March 2021. Eight meetings of the Governance Committee were held in 2020, some of which were devoted to discussion of major reorganization plans and changes in the company. Mr. Landel was involved in major projects for your company. First of all, as part of the shareholders' dialogue, he met with 15 key investors of Danone in order to engage with an in-depth exchange on governance-related matters, in particular the combination of the duties of the Chairperson of the Board and CEO, changes to the membership of the Board, implementation of its status as a mission-driven company. He also worked with the Governance Committee on the changes in the membership of the Board by identifying potential Board members. He met candidates and had an exchange with several Board members on their appropriateness as candidates during 2020. Next, the evaluation of the Board was implemented by a specialized independent company and the lead directors were part of the preparation of the evaluation regarding implementation of recommendation. This evaluation had a major impact on the Board's work. These discussions have led to the establishment of the new Board committee, the Strategy and Transformation Committee, which is entrusted with a critical mandate, namely, following up on the Local First project. So 2020 has prepared and laid the foundations for major transformation with the group in 2021. In 2021, exchanges between Board members intensified. Members of the Governance Committee met 9 times at the beginning of the year. And the Board itself met 7 times, 2 executive sessions, bringing -- with external directors of Danone brought ahead. Exchange with the shareholders have also been intense since the beginning of the year. Since I was appointed on the 1st of March as the Lead Director, I've taken part with over 10 meetings with Danone shareholders, during which the following topics were discussed: recruitment of the future CEO, Local First, Danone strategy, membership of the Board and the CSR commitment of Danone. The dialogue was also held in depth with our stakeholders. The content of this discussion was systematically reported to the Board, and this has greatly contributed to our discussions. This has led to major changes in the governance, and the Board has decided to dissociate the position of Chairperson and CEO. We have proposed a remuneration structure appropriate for these exceptional circumstances. The Board and the Governance Committee also worked on the financial conditions arising from the departure of the CEO. Under the recruitment process of a new CEO and as indicated by Mr. Schnepp, I'm happy to confirm that Danone has appointed an international recruitment consultancy firm in order to help identify potential candidates and to conduct an in-depth analysis of the candidacy. Also, this is aimed at candidates with a major experience with mass market and agri food. Gradually, the number of candidates has narrowed down, and direct discussions are now being held with a very limited number of candidates. And we hope within the near future, the very near future, to recruit a new CEO. Moreover, as Mr. Schnepp has said, the Board has commissioned a specialized company, international company, in order to help it consider changes in the membership of the Board over time. And we have listened very clearly -- very carefully to the messages that have been conveyed by our shareholders as part of our consultations with them in 2020 and 2021. This has led us to change the membership of our of our Board. And this is part of the consultation, the work on consultation that we've heard previously. The work that is being done by the Board will therefore concern all aspects of the Board, its membership structure and the organization. This is what I wanted to share with you. And I would like to thank the shareholders of Danone, and I look forward to meeting you face-to-face in an improved health context, and I wish you all very good health.

Thank you, Jean-Michel. I now propose that we listen to Pascal Lamy, who will present the first report of the Mission Committee to the AGM.

[Foreign Language]

After that first report by the Committee Mission by Pascal Lamy, over to Juergen Esser to present the 2020 results and the outlook for 2021 for Danone. Juergen?

Thank you. Laurent. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good afternoon. I'm very pleased to address you at this AGM to review the highlights of the year 2020 and the beginning of the year 2021. First of all, the year 2020 demonstrated that our frame of action, One Planet. One Health, is more relevant than ever. It reflects our conviction that human health and the preservation of the planet are interdependent. Danone has, more than ever, the ambition of playing a key role in the food revolution through a product portfolio that is more healthy, local and responsible. We're acting as a responsible and committed leader on our markets. The next page allows me to show you that we have made further progress toward reaching our 2030 objectives revolving around the 3 pillars that you know. Firstly, our business model. One of our goals is to generate sustainable and profitable growth. In 2020, around 50% of our sales was already covered by B Corp certification. We continue to make progress. Number two, our brand model. We've obtained for the second consecutive year a AAA on the part of CDP, the Carbon Disclosure Project, in terms of combating climate change, forest preservation and securing water resources. Danone is 1 of only 10 companies and the only in the food sector that has obtained this rating. We've also made progress in reducing our carbon emissions down by 1.3 million tons of equivalent CO2 on a like-for-like basis compared to last year. Thirdly, our trust model. The engagement of our employees is a key factor. 91% of our employees were saying Danone is a good place to work. That's 10 points more than the average of the food sector. Turning now to the financial performance. 2020 performance was in line with the objectives reestablished in October last with a recurring operating margin at 14%; free cash flow equal to EUR 2.1 billion; sales down 1.5% like-for-like and in fourth quarter down 1.4%, which represents a sequential improvement of sales as compared to the third quarter. Let's now turn to the performance of each business unit in greater detail. Here, we have Dairy and Plant-based that recorded 3.4% sales growth like-for-like driven by Europe and North America. The business unit performance was driven both by dairy products, back to growth in Europe after several years of decline; and of course, by plant-based products, up 15%, that reached EUR 2.2 billion in sales. This performance stems notably from double-digit growth of Silk and So Delicious brands in North America but also the Alpro brand, notably in Europe, that reached almost EUR 750 million in sales. Moving to Specialized Nutrition. This unit posted a reduction of its sales of 0.9% like-for-like in this unit. It's important to note that adult nutrition recorded a strong growth driven notably by Europe. However, the performance of early life nutrition was heavily hit by the health crisis, notably in China, where the cross-border channels were affected by the extended closure of borders with Hong Kong and travel restrictions with Continental China. It's also important to note that on the Chinese domestic market, demand for Danone brands remain strong driven by the excellent performance of Aptamil. Other regions delivered strong growth driven by market share gains in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Turning now to Waters. This business unit recorded a drop in sales of 16.8% like-for-like, severely hit by travel restrictions that affected out-of-home sales, which led to a deterioration in volumes as well as product and the format mix. In Europe, sales were hurt by the various lockdowns and travel restrictions in France and Germany, where market shares remained resilient. Rest of the world, sales in Latin America and Indonesia posted a decrease of over 10% given the major restrictions put in place by authorities. In China, the trend of Mizone improved throughout the year to deliver positive growth in Q4 in spite of mobility indices that remain lower than pre-COVID levels. Turning to the next page. As announced in February, we are today proposing a dividend of EUR 1.94 per share paid in cash in respect of 2020 as a follow-up to the measured and balanced dividend policy of the company. This dividend is down 8% over last year, reflecting, on the one hand, the impact of the difficult context on the 2020 results that led, in particular, to a double-digit fall in recurring net earnings per share and our confidence in our ability to see a rapid return to profitable growth as witnessed by the payout ratio that has risen to 58%. And I'd like to briefly return to the Q1 '21 results that were reported last week. The decrease of 3.3% like-for-like is consistent with expectations and the last quarter of decline before a return to growth like-for-like. Dairy and Plant-based confirmed their good dynamics in spite of an exceptional Q1 2020 in the context of panic buying and precautionary storage stocking up. This performance was driven by Europe and North America, more specifically by plant-based probiotic and protein plant forms. Medical nutrition for adults posted strong growth momentum already observed last year, whereas early life nutrition activities continue to be impacted by difficulties encountered on the cross-border channels in China. And lastly, Waters is still impacted by the shrinking of out-of-home channels that posted a sequential improvement in Q1 as compared to previous quarters, notably in Europe. On the next page, I'd like to end this survey by reviewing the outlook for 2021 on a macro front. And in spite of short-term uncertainties, a gradual reopening of economies is looming for the second half driven by progress in vaccination programs. This reopening will be gradual, probably at paces that differ by region. At the same time, we're also seeing an overall global acceleration of inflation, notably in mill crisis, ingredients, packaging and supply chain costs. In this context, and thanks to brand support and our sales plans for the coming quarters, we reiterate our '21 targets announced in February. We're expecting a return to top line growth like-for-like as soon as the next quarter, a return to profitable growth in H2 and a recurring operating margin for 2021 globally, in line with that of last year. This completes my presentation of the financial results, and thank you for your attention. I now suggest that we watch a video showing the highlights of our company, our teams and our brand from early 2020 until today. [Presentation]

After that recall of the highlights 2020, let's hear Veronique Penchienati-Bosetta, Co-CEO.

Thank you, Laurent. Dear shareholders, I am extremely honored to speak to you today in my capacity as transitional CEO and to represent Danone into this AGM. I have been with Danone for 22 years. I've occupied jobs in all 3 divisions. And most recently, I led the specialized nutrition business. I am serving as Co-CEO alongside Shane Grant, who is based in the United States. And as such, we have prepared a video in which we review Danone's business highlights in 2020 as well as our prospects. And we will show you this video in just a few moments. Clearly, the past year has been extraordinary in so many ways. It's been an extraordinary year for us all across the world because of the pandemic, but it's also been an extraordinary year for Danone. I am not here to comment on the internal upheavals that have affected us. However, I want you to know that all Danone employees, all Danoners remain focused on their primary goal, which is to grow the business, consolidate our legacy and innovate across the board, whether in terms of products, packaging, brand communications, production methods or even ways of working. Danone has always been a forerunner in many areas, and the line we're following is a clear one. We inherited this line from Antoine Riboud, and the line was further strengthened by Franck Riboud and then perpetuated by Emmanuel Faber. We have always believed that business goes hand-in-hand with our impact on society, health and the planet. This long-standing belief is part of our DNA. We have endeavored to uphold it and adapt it to changes in society and our environment. And that is why in 2020, with your full support, we embraced the status of a mission-driven company. 2020, however, was also a particularly difficult year from a business perspective. Much of our business was directly impacted by COVID, as Juergen Esser explained to you. Water was particularly affected by the various lockdowns since 40% of our revenue is generated in the out-of-home channels. That is bars, restaurants or simply out on the street. Our early nutrition business in China also suffered from the decline in birth rate with Chinese and others falling back on local brands, and there was also a drop in sales in cross-border channels due to borders shutting down. Let's not see the glass as half empty. We've also made great inroads. We have gained market share in many countries. We have adjusted very quickly to the quick surge in online sales, which accounted for 10% of total sales in 2020. That's a 40% increase over last year. We have also maintained a steady pace of innovation, which accounts for more than 35% of our revenue. Last but not least, our dairy and plant-based products, which account for nearly 60% of our revenue, have returned to handsome growth. And this reflects the strength of our brands, whether Alpro, Actimel and of course, Danone as well as the growing interest of consumers in healthy, natural and essential products. As a responsible company, we have also played a key social and inclusive role, a particularly important role. Our top priority has been the health and safety of our employees, and we have provided exceptional health coverage to all our employees worldwide. We have also provided support to our partners and health care professionals. Specifically, in terms of medical and nutrition, we have donated products and funded studies and hospitals to better meet the recovery needs of COVID patients. Being with you today is an opportunity for me to emphasize once again that all our Danone colleagues have shown throughout these difficult months incredible commitment, resilience and creativity. And for that, I thank them. In 2021, sadly, COVID has yet to be eradicated. The virus continues to impact our teams and our performance. However, I can assure you that our teams are fully mobilized and determined to return to growth in the second quarter and gain market share wherever they operate. In addition, we have identified significant pockets of growth where we hold full [ automacy ], including our plant-based product offering, which currently accounts for 10% of our revenues and is enjoying double-digit growth. We are leading this trend, a trend that is accelerating, and we are targeting EUR 5 billion in revenue by 2025. Thanks to our Specialized Nutrition division, we also have a great deal of expertise in helping to resolve age-related problems, and we're going to supplement our curative product ranges with a more holistic and lifestyle-driven approach. COVID has clearly demonstrated the importance of prevention behaviors. Younger and younger people, sometimes as young as 40 or 50 years old, are starting to take care of themselves. Finally, we continue to grow our online business. That's a distribution channel that has grown tenfold this year due to the lockdowns. So this is both a global and a local approach because each country has its on specific players. These 3 examples reflect a more cross-cutting approach rather than working in silos. And this affects all our product categories, and that is the founding principle of our new organizational model called Local First, a model that we will implement gradually. By way of conclusion, I am confident that we will return to profitable growth in the coming months because our brands are strong, our plans are solid and our teams are bent on winning. I propose that we now watch a video that summarizes this past year, and looks at our prospects for 2021. [Presentation]

Hello, everyone. I'm Shane Grant. I have the privilege of being at Danone for 1 year and leading our North America business. I'm honored, together with Véronique, to be co-leading our very special global business and team through this transition period. This is an incredible company to be a part of with powerful brands, leading positions in growth categories; a unique interconnection of performance and purpose; and of course, a strong, passionate and committed team to bring our strategy and mission to life. I'm delighted to be here with you all today at our Annual General Meeting. It's been an unprecedented year for all of us. I want to build on Véronique's comments and add my own deep thanks to our team of Danoners around the world. None of us expected to be leading and operating our business in this circumstance. The dedication, the resilience of our teams in the face of this challenge has been and remains truly remarkable. A special thank you, of course, needs to go out to our frontline heroes. Our team mates in our factories and our farms and working with our customers around the world. They have delivered record production outputs in many of our businesses and ensured that we delivered our products and brands to our customers, our consumers and our patients. There are 3 specific business areas that Véronique and I would like to share as highlights of 2020. First, our global Plant-based performance; second, the turnaround at our Dairy business in Europe and North America; third, the resilience of our Specialized Nutrition business. Let me start with our Plant-based business, a key growth area for us globally, both today and in the future. In 2020, we delivered a year of accelerated performance. Our global sales were up 15% year-on-year, reaching EUR 2.2 billion, almost halfway to our EUR 5 billion goal for 2025. Our performance was driven by our core Plant-based brands, Alpro, Silk and So Delicious, which all grew double digits and continued to gain traction with consumers. These 3 brands are the undisputed leaders in their respective geographies. In Europe, the Alpro brand is 4x the size of its nearest competitor, reaching sales of EUR 750 million in 2020. Further in our international business, we continue to grow our footprint, expanding quickly in Latin America and enhancing local capabilities in Russia. In the U.S. and Canada, we grew our Plant-based sales by 17%, and our business was the #1 retail dollar growth contributor across all plant-based food and beverage alternatives. We sustained strong credit category leadership with the #1 brand position across plant-based beverage, frozen and yogurt alternatives. And we're fast-expanding our position in emerging plant-based adjacencies led by cheese, strengthened by the recent acquisition of Follow Your Heart. Our Plant-based business has global leadership positions in scaled markets. We have category growth momentum fueled by wellness trends, a shift to flexitarian diets and sustainability. We also have new plant-based alternative opportunities and significant category expansion outside of Europe and outside of North America. We continue to feel very confident in the accelerated growth of our Plant-based business. With that, I'll hand to Véronique to discuss our Dairy business.

[Foreign Language] We serve life. [Foreign Language]

In North America, Local First has come to life as our Transform to Win program, which is designed to fully enable our new growth strategy. We frame Transform to Win through 5 core pillars: first, having the right organization to enable our long-range growth strategy and build within that, our key growth capabilities; second, ensuring we have key talent in key roles; thirdly, simplifying our processes and systems and ways of working to drive an agile consumer and customer-centric organization; fourth, the right leadership behaviors and culture across our organization to create more connected, empowered teams; and lastly, optimizing our cost base to reinvest for growth. We've also committed more resources to key growth driving capabilities to areas like e-commerce and digital, to revenue growth management and channel development and enterprise strategy and insights. Clearly, as part of Transform to Win, we have brought together our North America Waters Nutricia and Happy Family businesses, together with our essential Dairy and Plant-based unit. This is making more powerful use of our assets, and as Véronique referenced, expanding our growth potential. We moved to our new organization on April 1, and we're very pleased with the transition. While our teams are at capacity, given the challenges of COVID and business growth, I'm pleased to say that our internal engagement remains positive. 88% of employees say they feel supported by their manager, and our trust scores are high at 85%. Our teams are engaged, and our leaders are behind this transformation journey.

[Foreign Language]

In North America, we made several pivots to our business through COVID, pivots of our portfolio towards health and immunity, towards at-home indulgent rituals, towards digital life, and commercially towards distinct shopping needs and channel shifts. All of this while protecting our people, driving business continuity and with "One Planet. One Health" as our frame of action. We're proud of the accelerated business results delivered in 2020, and we use the pandemic also as an opportunity to reevaluate our business from a structural market opportunities to the new ones surface by COVID so that we could position ourselves for sustained performance. I'm pleased to report this strategy is beginning to get grip in the market. And in Q1, North America delivered sustained growth and its highest ever net sales. We have 4 strategic priorities. Our first priority is to grow consumer-centric Manifesto brands. We're targeting our portfolio against the right segments and key consumer shifts. For example, with increased consumer demand for functionality and taste, we launched Oikos PRO in Q1, and it's off to a strong start as the top-performing yogurt innovation of 2021. We also launched recently Silk Ultra, a 20-gram protein per serve plant-based beverage, which has seen encouraging early velocities and has brought the soy category back to growth. As consumers embrace lower sugar options, Two Good has expanded into new channels and formats, delivering more than 40% growth this year. We're also expanding our creamer portfolio into the zero sugar space. Against increasing consumer demand for climate action, we committed our Horizon Organic brand to be carbon-positive by 2025 and are marketing that commitment in 2021. We're also leaning into complete family wellness with the Horizon Growing Years platform, providing the right nutritional benefit for children's growing bodies in both yogurt and organic milk. Second, we're committed to serving the food revolution with our customers. We are focused, of course, on deep customer partnerships, but we're also bringing new channel-centric approach to life so that we can accelerate in growth segments. For example, e-commerce now makes up almost 9% of our North America sales and we're now in the top 20% of all FMCG players in the U.S. We're also preparing to win the reopening of away-from-home channels post COVID. To support this customer agenda, we're implementing new occasion pack price and channel actions investing in key enablers like revenue growth management, and we're simplifying our portfolio to drive growth in our core businesses. Our third priority is investing in growth capabilities. This is centered on the transformation and modernization of our supply chain, the digitization of our enterprise and driving constant productivity for reinvesting in our business. Finally, none of this happens without co-owning our future and unleashing the power of our Danone people. As part of Transform to Win, we're reenergizing our leadership behaviors, maximizing the post-COVID future of work and accelerating our diversity gender. We're proud of what we've achieved through the challenges of COVID. We're certain that our business has not wasted this crisis, and we're really clear on positioning Danone for future growth. As reaffirmed by our Chairman, Gilles Schnepp, and by the Board, we remain committed to bringing health through food to as many people as possible. The Dual Project of Danone will not change. It's deeply ingrained in our DNA. Our "One Planet. One Health" frame of action continues. It's core to our company and also a source of competitive advantage. We know our purpose is powerful to consumers, to customers and to all of our Danoners right across the world. It's part of what makes Danone better, special and different. We're proud that in North America this month, we recertified as a B Corp. We aim to drive interconnected performance and purpose as part of the way we work, as part of our growth strategy. We're thrilled to have North American Nutricia, evian global, together with our Danone Brazil businesses recently certified for the first time. These are key milestones in our objective to have 100% of our global sales under B Corp certification by 2025. With that, I'll hand over to Veronique to share how the Dual Project is coming to life through our brands.

"One Planet. One Health" [Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] As you've heard, you've heard that there are lots of initiatives conveying the passion, the enthusiasm of the team. We'll be moving on to more administrative section. We will not read out the report of the Board and the statutory auditors as is customary because you'll find them in the shareholders' document for 2020 and in the convening notice, and I therefore suggest that we now ask these statutory auditors with Mr. Gilles Cohen from Ernst & Young auditors to give us the conclusion of their reports.

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the statutory auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers audit and Ernst & Young audit, I'm happy to submit the conclusions of our mission on the financial statement closing 31/12/20. As is customary at the shareholders' meeting, I will summarize essential points of the various reports, which are presented on the one hand at the Ordinary General Meeting; on the other hand, with the Extraordinary Meeting. First of all, I will start off with the annual consolidated financial statements. These reports, the approval of which are covered by resolutions 1 of 2 of your General Meeting, can be found on pages 136, 139, 144, 148 of the shareholders' document for '20. I recall that our report on annual and consolidated financial statements were drawn up in a complex background of the global pandemic COVID-19, which established the very special conditions for preparing and auditing the accounts for 2020. The goal of our mission is to ensure the accuracy and the regularity of the financial statements. We have implemented procedures in the main entities of the group, both in France and overseas for 2020. We've submitted the conclusions of our work to the Audit Committee of your company on the 16th of February, 2020 and to the Board on the 18th of February, 2021. Regarding consolidated financial statements, we consider the following points as being the key points of the audit for 2020. Point number one of the audit, regarding recognition of sales, and in particular, the assessment of discounts. This is a point of vigilance due to a number of clients and [ conventional ] relations, the significant character of these discounts and the complexity of that estimation. The second one concerns goodwill depreciation tests, unlimited life of brands and securities of companies consolidated under the equity method. And the third point concerns the accounting and evaluation of tax receivables and tax payables and provisions for tax risks. Regarding the annual statements, our report specifies it will consider the valuation of participating securities as securities of the audit. Our report also concern the specific checks set out by law. These checks also concern the existence within the management report of the consolidated declaration of extra financial performance under Article L. 225-102-1 of the Commercial Code and the accuracy and consistency with the annual financial statements of the information. Regarding the payment deadlines mentioned under Article D. 441-6 of the Commercial Code, we do not have any comments on the specific checks. To summarize, we certify, without reservation, the consolidated financial statements of Danone as presented to us. Now, still regarding the ordinary part of your Shareholders' Meeting, we have published a report, which sets out the key features and modalities of related party agreements, of which we were notified regarding transaction between Danone and its corporate officers or subsidiaries. This report is to be found on Pages 290, 291 of the shareholders' document 2020. Our report refers to related party agreements and commitments of which we were notified authorized by your Board during 2020, requiring approval of the Shareholders' meeting. We inform you that we have not been notified of any related party agreement or commitment, the execution of which was pursued in 2020 and which have already been approved by your Shareholders' meeting. Finally, regarding the Extraordinary General Meeting, we published 5 reports on Resolutions 16 to 24 -- 24 regarding transactions on the capital -- share capital of your company. This concerns issuance of shares and related various securities, with cancellation of preferential subscription rights, issuance of ordinary shares reserved for subscribers to the corporate share share-profiting scheme, issuance of ordinary shares and securities of the company reserved for subscription by employees of the company with cancellation of preferential rights of subscription, allocation of existing bonus shares or to be issued members of the staff, and finally, a reduction of capital by cancellation through share buybacks. These reports do not contain any remarks or specific comments on these transactions, which come under the provisions of the law. Mr. Chairman, shareholders, thank you very much.

[Interpreted] Thank you, statutory auditor. We now move into the part of the report that concerns the results of the vote and questions and answers. Several shareholders representing 0.7% of the share capital of the company have asked on the application of the legal provisions enforce a specific item to be added without any resolution. And this item has -- comes out as 4 questions, which were read as part of the agenda, and will enable us to kick off our questions-and-answer session. And I will now give the floor to our Chairman, Gilles.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Laurent. Five shareholders have asked that each director conveys his or her opinion to 4 questions on the Local First project, the mission-driven company climate commitment or our governance model. Now as you know, the principle of collegiality of the Board means that there cannot be any public position stated by Board members. But rather than conveying the report, we felt that it might be appropriate that several directors share with you the collective vision of the Board on these matters. Before giving them the floor, I will answer to one of the questions myself, namely the one regarding the Local First plan. Now as I've already written and said since I took up my appointment as Chairperson, the Board has clearly reaffirmed unanimously its support to the reorganization plan, which seeks to establish the conditions for an acceleration of growth by bringing the decision-making centers closer to the Danone geographies in order to respond more pertinently, more flexibly and in a speedier way to the expectations of consumers. This is project, which enable us to ensure cost savings through streamlining, and will release resources that will support our brands and innovation. We want this project to be implemented as soon as possible and, of course, consistent with the wishes of our stakeholders. I now give the floor to Cécile Cabanis, our Deputy Chairperson, to speak about the mission within the company.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Gilles, for this kind introduction and also for reminding us of the importance of the Local First project. The Board of Directors has been asked to express its position on maintaining the status of Danone as a mission-driven company. Before we do that, I would like to recall why and how Danone and Danone shareholders made that choice last year. As shareholders of Danone, you know this better than anyone else. When it comes to this twofold economic and social project, this is something that goes way back. In 1972 already, Antoine Riboud first stated that the company's responsibility does not stop at the factory gate. Ever since 1972, every successive Chairperson and CEO has worked hard to preserve this legacy and strengthen it year-on-year. In 2005, Franck Riboud already expressed Danone's mission statement to bring health through food for all. In 2017, this legacy was further strengthened by Emmanuel Faber with the frame of action called "One Planet. One Health" complete with objectives by 2030, and this is why Danone's status as a mission-driven company is part and parcel of the company's DNA, of the group's values, ambitions. This is something that everybody shares, the company's entire workforce. Now I'd like to remind you of what this means, what is a mission-driven company before we answer the question per se. First of all, this mission, this corporate purpose is enshrined in the bylaws of the company. It's part and parcel of the company's DNA, and that's a very powerful statement. Secondly, this comes with social, environmental objectives, and these objectives are monitored by a committee of international experts. And every year, this committee of international experts presents their report on Danone's progress towards its objectives. So the progress and the objectives are verified by an independent third party. This project was introduced to the Board of Directors before being submitted to the General Meeting of Shareholders for a vote, and this happened a year ago. The resolution was approved pretty much unanimously. One year down the line, Danone's Board of Directors' determination has remained unchanged. We are still committed to this plan. And last year, we adopted the status of a mission-driven company. The Board supports Danone's mission and objectives. This determination remains unchanged. This is an important unique selling point. This is how we stand apart from the competition. By way of illustration, I'd like to hand over to Serpil Timuray. She will clarify the ways in which Danone's environmental commitments have contributed to Danone's success this year once again.

[Foreign Language] Thank you, Cecil. As Chair of the Engagement Committee, I'm in charge of reporting to the Board on Danone's progress towards its 2030 goals, particularly regarding health, nature and human resources. I'd like to give specifics on the progress made towards the environmental objectives. Since 2015, Danone has been committed to achieving carbon neutrality throughout its value chain by 2050. That covers direct Scopes 1 and 2 as well as 3. Scope 3 emissions are the indirect emissions of suppliers and consumers, which constitutes 95% of Danone's total greenhouse gas emissions, out of which 60% comes from agriculture. In 2017, the company's ambition to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions was recognized by the SBTI, Science-Based Target Initiatives, as being in line with the objective of keeping global warming under 2 degrees. In 2019, Danone committed to go further and defined its targets in line with the 1.5-degree climate scenario. Danone has been rated AAA score by the CDP in recognition of the company's efforts in 3 environmental areas: climate change; forest-proof preservation; and water security. So far, Danone is the only food and beverage company to have achieved this recognition. Danone is strongly engaged on the environmental topics through its brands and divisions. In 2020, the water brands, evian and Volvic, became carbon neutral. By 2025, the organic milk brand, Horizon Organic, will become carbon positive. By 2030, the Specialized Nutrition brand, Karicare, will become carbon neutral. The entire Board of Directors is fully confident and fully supportive of Danone's ambition and its ability to achieve its carbon neutrality objective. I now would like to hand over to Michel Landel to give some highlights of the government's (sic) [ governance ] topics. Over to you, Michel.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Serpil. As regards group governance, the Board addressed the issue of separating the roles in an in-depth manner, has made a choice, and we now have an independent nonexecutive chairman who will concentrate on leading the Board. And we are recruiting the CEO, male or female, who will operationally lead the company and its 100,000 employees. And Gilles Schnepp indicated that this recruitment is -- today is the #1 priority of our Board. And that is as it should be. It's our prime responsibility, and this paramount decision will necessarily commit the future of Danone in a profound manner in the years to come. We are working collectively in order, hopefully, to arrive at a collective decision that is widely shared. And this collective thinking and the need to arrive at a collective decision on the basis of constructive discussion and exchange review is the way we plan to work going forward, and it's in this spirit that we're considering the operations and change of the team as was just shared with you. Thank you, and back to Gilles Schnepp.

[Interpreted] Thank you to Cécile, Serpil and Michel. We can now move to the question-and-answer session.

Yes, Gilles. So the company has received 26 written questions from 6 different shareholders, and we propose to answer some of those questions during this meeting, knowing that many of the questions posed pertain to questions that were specifically addressed during earlier presentations. Let me indicate that all written questions put by shareholders and the answers provided will be published this evening on the company website, the item devoted to the '21 AGM, so you can refer to that. To begin with the written questions sent in by an individual shareholder asking us: "In 2019, 30% of sales were certified B Corp. What is the percentage in 2020? And do you confirm the target of reaching 100% at the latest in 2030?" I propose that the Véronique Penchienati-Bosetta answers this question.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Laurent. We heard this many times today. It's been a year now since the Danone embraced status as a mission-driven company and strengthened its efforts to achieve B Corp certification by 2022, I suppose, to 2025. So at the end of 2020, nearly 50% of Danone's revenue was covered by B Corp certification. This percentage has increased to 55% by the end of April 2021, thanks to the certification of all our entities in the Waters division in France, including our international brands, evian, Volvic, Badoit and Salveta, with French brands and also all our entities in Brazil as well as our Specialized Nutrition company in Thailand. In addition, Alpro, Danone North America and Danone Canada have all been recertified with an even higher score than the first time around. I would like to emphasize that this progress is the result of a strong commitment from our in-house teams who volunteer, one after the other, to obtain B Corp certification, thus reinforcing both their sense of belonging as well as their corporate culture.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Véronique. We have a second question asked by an institutional shareholder. This time, as follows: "Given the implementation of the gender equality policy of your group, could you disclose the agenda? What is the costed targets of this policy at every level of responsibility? And this gender equality, is it applied across group companies, both in France as well as abroad?" Well, I'll ask Véronique to answer that question, too.

[Interpreted] Thanks again, Laurent. This is a most important issue. We at Danone are very sensitive to the issue of gender parity. We have put into place many initiatives to help break through the infamous glass ceiling. And we believe that this starts with raising awareness among men and also raising confidence among women. All too often, women help perpetuate the glass ceiling by not making their voices heard. And to this end, in 2010, we created the EVE Program, a program that brings together more than 20 major companies with men and women working together. Because it is by pooling our strengths that we will succeed. In 2017, we joined the HeForShe movement, a movement initiated by the United Nations. And as part of the road map for inclusive diversity, we achieved the commitments made for 2020; that is to have 30% women among executives and 32% of executives from underrepresented nationalities. In addition, Danone is ensuring gender parity in compensation in all its countries, targeting a gap within a range of plus or minus 3 points in order to support the equal opportunity and recognition for all employees. This objective is monitored as part of our status as a mission-driven company. It is important to underline that all the commitments and action plans that we have formulated at the global level are then implemented at the local level to cover diversity issues that are specific to the local culture or the local context. Finally, Danone has reiterated its ambition for gender equality by signing the LEAD pledge, in which the company commits to achieving gender parity in management positions by 2025.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Véronique. I'd like to turn to a third written question sent in by an institutional shareholder. It's very simple: "How do you limit the impact of the loss of biodiversity on your future revenues?" When I hear revenues, I turn to our CFO, Juergen.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Laurent. Thank you for the question. We support more sustainable food by offering a large portfolio, plant-based alternatives supplementing dairy products of high-quality. To combat the loss of biodiversity, Danone is focusing on concrete actions, the development of regenerative farming to protect soil and water and restore biodiversity or the diversification of our product portfolio by developing local varieties that contribute to improve giving biodiversity. For example, the Bledina brand, Bledina launched in 2020 a Sauvez Williams scheme to maintain the Williams pear variety. And lastly, in a collective action, Danone contributes to protecting biodiversity, working with the 26 companies of One Planet business-led biodiversity.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Juergen. Final question that we can respond to during the course of this AGM, sent in by a retail shareholder: "Is the goal of remaining the sector leader on ESG rating, environment, social governance, is that goal kept by the Board and its chair?" Gilles, I think that's one for you.

[Interpreted] Well, the environmental and social aspects are monitored by the Engagement Committee of the Board chaired by Serpil Timuray, whom you heard from earlier. And this Commission Committee, inter alia, is tasked with monitoring the rollout of policies, engagements, initiatives put in place by the company as part of its 2020 -- 2030 goals in terms of health, environment, human resources, inclusive growth and B Corp certification. And the letter to shareholders dated 17 March, 2021, I reaffirmed my support and that of the Board to remain committed to Danone's mission and to its mission-driven status. And as Madam CEO, it really lies at the heart of Danone's competitive advantage.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Chairman. Let me remind you that all the other questions and answers will be available as of this evening on the Danone.com website. This brings to an end the Q&A session. I believe we can move to the results of the votes on the resolutions. Chairman, I believe that's for you.

[Interpreted] Mr. Secretary, yes, I was asking for your permission to proceed. Please do so.

[Interpreted] The announcement of the votes by resolution, let me kill the suspense by saying that all resolutions were adopted, thanks to your vote, but I'd like to detail the results. First resolution concerning the approval of the financial statements for 2020: adopted by 99.98%. Second resolution pertaining to the approval of the consolidated financial statements 2020: adopted with the same score, 99.98%. Third resolution, allocation of earnings and dividend for 2020: resolution adopted by 99.28% of the vote. Let me remind you in this respect that the dividend will be made available for payment on the 10th of May; and paid out on the 12th of May. Regarding the renewals. Fourth resolution, renewal of the term Mr. Guido Barilla: adopted by 98.49%. Fifth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Cécile Cabanis: resolution adopted by 81.71% of the vote. Sixth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Michel Landel: renewed, 95.9% of the vote. Seventh, renewal of the term of office of Serpil Timuray: adopted by 97.3% of the vote. Eighth resolution concerns the ratification of the co-opting of Mr. Gilles Schnepp: adopted by 93.89%. Resolution 9, approval of agreements entered into with SICAV Danone Communities: adopted by 99.8%. Tenth resolution: approval of the information regarding the compensation of directors and officers for 2020: adopted by 98.24%. Resolution for the approval of items of compensation of Mr. Emmanuel Faber as Chairman, CEO: adopted also with a score of 97.65% of the vote. Twelfth resolution pertaining to the approval of compensation policy for corporate officers for 2021: this time adopted by 91.66% of the votes. Thirteenth resolution setting the amount of directors' aggregate annual compensation: adopted by 98.86% of the vote. Fourteenth resolution, approval of the compensation policy for directors for 2021: adopted by 94.98%. Fifteenth, authorization to purchase company shares: 97.72%. Sixteenth resolution, issuance of shares with preferential subscription rights: 90.8%. Seventeenth resolution for the issuance of shares without preferential subscription rights, but with the obligation to grant a priority right: adopted by 86.2%, Eighteenth resolution, to increase the number of securities to be assumed in the event of a capital increase with preferential subscription right of the shareholders: 86.73% adopted. Then the issuance of shares without preferential subscription rights in the event of a public exchange offer initiated by the company: adopted by 89.2% of the vote. Twentieth resolution, delegation of powers to issue ordinary shares without preferential subscription rights to shareholders in consideration for contributions in kind granted to the company: resolution adopted by 88.53% of the vote. Twenty-first resolution, capital increase through incorporation of reserves, profits, premiums or any other amounts that may be capitalized: resolution adopted by 99.05%. Twenty-second resolution, authorization to increase the share capital in favor of employees, members of the company savings plan: 98.72% adopted. Twenty-third resolution, increase in the share capital in favor of categories of employees with foreign companies of Danone: adopted by 98.69%. Twenty-fourth resolution, the granting of existing shares to certain categories of employees: 97.42%. Twenty-fifth, authorizing the Board to reduce the share capital by canceling shares: adopted by 94.96% of the vote. Twenty-sixth resolution is that concerning powers to carry out formalities: there the resolution was adopted by 99.99% of the vote. The last 2 resolutions now. Twenty-seventh, approval of the compensation policy for the interim executive officers for 2021 fiscal year: adopted by 96.35% of the vote. And lastly, resolution 28, approval of the items of compensation paid or awarded to Mr. Emmanuel Faber up to the 14th of March, 2021: adopted by 97.54% of the vote. Let me remind you that the final item on this AGM whose placing was required by shareholders is not the subject of a resolution put to the vote of this AGM. This plans to amend the results of the vote. Chairman?

Thank you. Before closing this AGM, I'd like to thank all the Board members who, thanks to your vote, saw their term of office renewed. I'd also like to thank the teams who organized this AGM in very unusual conditions, and to thank you, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders for following it. Next year: Tuesday, 26th of April, 2022 for our AGM. There being no further business on the agenda, the meeting is adjourned. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]