Eurazeo SE (RF) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, welcome to the combined shareholder meeting of Eurazeo. Like each year, this meeting is the opportunity to bring together shareholders, members of the Supervisory Board, senior management and your company's teams. During the meeting, we will be presenting the results and the ambition of our group, and we will be happy, as always, to answer your questions before submitting the resolutions that are on the agenda for your approval. I will now call on Mr. Olivier Merveilleux du Vignaux and Mr. Emmanuel Russel, who are the 2 members representing in their own right and as designated representatives, the largest number of votes to be the sellers. Thanks to them. And I propose that we appoint Mr. Gabriel Kunde, the General Secretary -- Company Secretary Executive of Eurazeo, to be the Secretary of the meeting. I will hand over to him to remind us of the legal formalities and to present the agenda item.

Thank you very much, Chair. Good morning, everyone. I wish to welcome the members of the Executive Board who were here sitting in the first row, our statutory auditors as well. Our general meeting is being broadcast live on our website. You will see the formalities and the intervention of this morning. You'll see the Management Board report in the registration document, and I would kindly request that we dispense with reading it out. The legal bulletins and convening notices have been published within the regulatory time lines, published on the BALO on the 31st of March 2024. The convening notice of the [indiscernible]. The convening letters and invitations were sent out on the 18th of April to each registered shareholder. All shareholders, whether holders of [indiscernible] or register says, have been duly informed. The financial statements that report, all the documents that have to be made available have been provided, and the document has been submitted and all reasons of compliance with the environmental responsibility policy CSR, we no longer print registration documents for each shareholder attending the meeting. A digital version can be looked up at any time on the company website using the QR codes and hard copies can be sent to those of you who so wish. An attendance list has been set up on the legal requirement. It has been signed by all members. I will provide you with the final quorum later. The attendance list will be set at 10:30. Over 1/4 of shares and voting rights are represented. And we can, therefore, open the meeting, and I will now hand back to the Chairperson of the Board.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I am, as always, very happy to see you here to look at the results of a very fruitful year for Eurazeo. Our general meeting is meeting against the backdrop of a very challenging volatile international environment. Our group is affirming its relevant positioning through its transformation that has been accomplished in recent years. A few words specifically on the unprecedented economic situation requires both clear-mindedness and a strong will. The world is going, as we can see every day, through a historic upheaval in terms of technology, energy, the economy and ideology. We see or we can anticipate every day as we receive statements and tweets, the impact of the November vote in the United States on multilateralism, global trade, combating climate change. The markets have responded in 2 different ways to the fluctuations with a catch-up of European stock markets, but the practical matter is that Europe's falling behind did not begin with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Over the past 15 years, the growth gap is constantly widened. As established by the World Bank in 2008, global GDP of European Union stands at 75% of Americas. And it's now only 65%. Since the financial crisis of 2008, Europe has basically stagnated. It's total production increased by 2.8% in 15 years versus an increase of 72% of American GDP. The causes of this are well known and have been recently confirmed by Mario Draghi, including energy prices 2 to 3x higher than across the Atlantic, a deficit in terms of research and innovation, of the annual number of hours work that is insufficient. However, Europe has some major strengths. It's monetary sovereignty, it's single market that represent in terms of mass as much as the American market. It's a surplus private savings, stability and security, the feeling of security for investors given the emphasis on the rule of law, and I would add its human capital and know-how. Three years after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the form of European naivety has ended, that's good news. The commission has adopted unprecedented laws regarding economic simplification and a plan to rearm Europe. The EU 27 members are talking about strategic autonomy. Moving from intentions to decisions and decisions to action, old continent may reemerge as a new idea, a novel idea, and affirm that its original model is a model for the future. At the end of 2023, when we renewed our strategic plan, we decided to affirm our goal to build the key platform for private asset management in Europe on the mid-market tech and impact segments. At the time, this might have seen like a bold gamble. Now, however, it bears out our company's conviction that Europe is a very significant pool of growth in the current environment. Our private market industry is driven by very favorable tailwinds. This is my second message of hope. An increasing number of companies are turning to private market actors to fund their growth. Institutional investor allocations are increasingly better oriented, and the potential of retail clients in the wealth segment is very significant. In the immediate future, interest rate cuts, in particular, in Europe, will be a positive factor, both in terms of fundraising from our clients as well as the M&A market, even though very clearly, political uncertainty and sluggish growth will continue to slow down transaction. For companies that need more than ever is for investors who are partners for growth convinced on the key role of private equity and economy. And this is indeed the DNA of Eurazeo. For our group, the results of 2024 and the first month of 2025 is all the more positive that it is happening against the backdrop because it's far from favorable. The gradual recovery of the industry is gradual. I wish to commend the excellent health of our asset management regarding the results of fundraising, which are well above the results, the expectations that we set in early 2024, with major success in private debt, impact products, Smart City transition infrastructure and wealth management, Eurazeo continues to firm its leadership, and this bears out the relevance of our positioning. The success of our fundraising futures also rest first and foremost, on the performance of our investment strategies in 2024. Key strategies for the group, such as MLABO and growth reached a key turning point, which is highly promising. Rollouts are up, and the exit volume is 3x as high as in 2023. Finally, our operating margin is improving, which proves the increased emphasis on stringent management of our resources. What is not quite as visible, but is equally important to boost the momentum in the years ahead, is the operational efficiency projects and the unification of our teams in our group, bringing together the teams at a single head office, merging our investment management companies, harmonizing H&R policies. But as you know, while our road map is that of growth asset management, our stock market reality is still far too much that of a shareholder equity investor. Therefore, our goal is to pursue the growth of our asset management while finding a strong trajectory for wealth and value creation for the portfolio we have on the balance sheet. Of course, all the projects of our strategic road map the Supervisory Board has demonstrated its commitment to the group with the unswerving support of the Management Board. We have endorsed initiatives that aim to step up fundraising. We've encouraged the launch of new investment strategies. We have actively contributed to the strategic analysis in a market which is undergoing consolidation. I therefore would like to thank the members of the Supervisory Board, both individually and collectively, and I'm very happy to see some of them sitting in the front row here of this general meeting, for their commitment and mobilization, unswerving commitment to this action. Our group is pursuing the acceleration of this transformation, as you have clearly understood. A proper rebalancing of the commitment of our balance sheet in our strategies will remain a key item. As the CEO of the Supervisory Board, I will personally be paying very close attention and be very demanding regarding compliance with the goal. The attractive sharing of value for shareholders is another pillar of the road map that we have entrusted to the Management Board. Since the appointment, shareholder return has risen by approximately 30% since February 2023 and 2024, the group paid back almost EUR 400 million to shareholders. In 2025, not only will be -- are we recommending a dividend payout of EUR 2.65 per share, up almost 10% on the ordinary dividend for 2024, but we're also going to be stepping up our share buyback program, which will at present be executed at an annual pace of EUR 400 million versus EUR 210 million in 2024. Ladies and gentlemen, in 2025 and in the years ahead, the controlled transformation of our business model, the understanding of the movements that are affecting the economy and our society at large, the heartened attention paid to execution, governance, the highest standards and the unswerving concern for perfect alignment of interest between the stakeholders will be the focal points that will enable our group to achieve its ambitious goals. I will be at your side. I have every confidence in this and this confidence is shared with the David Vial family, another major shareholder of Eurazeo. This is also why Jean-Charles Decaux holding and Olivier Merveilleux du Vignaux whom I wish to commend for their long-lasting commitment to our group, will be putting their term -- renewed term to the vote. Thank you very much, and I will be very happy to hand over to Christophe Baviere and William Kadouch-Chassaing, who will be joint CEOs of our group after this video. [Presentation]

Thank you, Chair. Dear shareholders, welcome to Eurazeo's Annual Shareholders Meeting. This is an opportunity for us to review the year 2024, look back on the strategic initiatives we have undertaken and present the group's financial and nonfinancial results. Last year, we presented our 2024-2027 strategic plan. Our ambition remains as relevant as ever, to build a leading private asset manager in Europe in the mid-cap growth and impact segments. Eurazeo is already the only player in Continental Europe that operates in important segments with a platform model. Continuously improving our relevance to clients, our performance and our ability to scale all of our strategies will be the hallmarks of the leadership we strive to achieve. To achieve our ambition, we have defined 4 key medium-term strategic objectives: first, strengthen our value proposition by focusing on our areas of strength; second, transition to a less balance sheet-intensive business model, consistent with the shift towards asset management; third, improve our market share by expanding our customer base; and fourth, improve our operational efficiency. This strategy should enable us to grow our results steadily, generate attractive returns for our shareholders. And of course, reduce the discount of the share price relative to the intrinsic value of the company. 2024 has been a successful first year for the implementation of this plan, both financially and nonfinancially. Let me share with you a couple of key points. On the financial front, we have achieved double-digit growth in asset management, thanks to a good year for inflows, which Christophe will come back to later. This growth has been profitable with a clear improvement in our operating margin. Our Chair mentioned that our disposal rebounded strongly with volumes of 3x higher in 2024 under good financial terms. On the balance sheet alone, the amount of key disposals was twice as high as in 2023. Finally, the investment portfolio posted mixed results. The strong revenue growth and profitability at portfolio companies, and this translated into significant underlying value creation for the balance sheet. However, this was offset by adjustments to certain legacy assets in buyout and growth. The value of the portfolio on the balance sheet is, therefore down slightly. So minus 2% per share to EUR 117.8 at December 31. In 2024, we continue to strengthen our leadership in sustainability and impact investing. Sophie Flak, who oversees this initiative, will outline the key performance highlights. In terms of sustainability, we maintained or improved all of our nonfinancial ratings. We also saw strong momentum in fundraising for our impact funds. A couple of examples. Our transition infrastructure fund exceeded this target by 40% to close at EUR 700 million. And our biotech franchise, Kurna raised EUR 140 million in its first fundraising round for its fourth biotechnology vintage. Finally, at the beginning of 2025, we announced the first closing of our new buyout fund, Eurazeo Planetary Boundaries Fund, EPBF, which is also an impact fund, so at EUR 300 million. At our Investor Day, November 2023, we committed to increasing shareholder returns. And we did so in 2024 with a 10% dividend increase and a doubling of share buybacks. For the record, the dividend per share had already increased by 26% in 2023. And for 2025, we are proposing to this meeting an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.65 per share, representing a 10% increase over last year. Investors registered for more than 2 years are eligible for a 10% loyalty bonus. In the coming years, we intend to continue to increase this ordinary dividend on a regular basis. We're also doubling our share buyback program to EUR 400 million compared with EUR 200 million last year, and this was announced in November 2023 and when we announced our strategic plan. And this is a sign of confidence in the value of our assets and a value-creating move at a time when our share price is still much too discounted. In total, this represents a further 50% increase in shareholder return expected in 2025. Let us now turn to the 2024 results. As a reminder, we saw their stake in MCH in Spain and Rome in the United States. And the figures have therefore been restated to exclude these contributions. Our fundraising was strong, again, at EUR 4.3 billion, as Christophe will explain in more detail later. Assets under management increased by 4% in 2024, reaching EUR 36 billion, with assets under management for third parties, which is a key aspect. Now that's up 10%. Fee paying AUM increased by 8% to EUR 27 billion. Third-party assets, which is a strategic objective in terms of switching models, that alone increased by 12%. Management fees amounted to EUR 421 million in 2024, up 7% compared to last year on a like-for-like basis. This growth was even higher at plus 14% for fees from third parties. Recurring asset management earnings, fee-related earnings, FRE, for 2024, are once again up sharply. They amounted to EUR 150 million for 2024, an increase of 11% compared to last year on a like-for-like basis. Our FRE margin improved by 110 basis points to 35.5%, which means that in 2024, we already reached a medium-term margin range of 35% to 40%. This further increase in Eurazeo's operating leverage reflects our commitment to cost control as we continue to invest in our future growth. In summary, the contribution of asset management activities amounted to EUR 153 million in 2024. As indicated, recurring operating income rose sharply, with FRE increasing by plus 20% to EUR 150 million. And performance fees tripled, thanks to higher realizations. Let's now turn to our investment activity. At the end of 2024, the net value of our portfolio stood at EUR 7.9 billion, down 5% compared with last year. This decrease was due to 2 key factors: first, a negative scope effect linked to disposals and disciplined rate investments as announced; and also in negative noncash fair value change of EUR 323 million, representing a negative impact of minus 4%. The value per share, as I said before, stood at EUR 107.8 at the end of 2024, down by only 2%. Thanks to the plus 4% positive impact of our share buyback program, which has an accretive impact on the value of our portfolio. So value creation in 2024 reflects 2 fundamental dynamics. On the one hand, solid performance in our underlying assets in buyout, private debt and real assets, with a 9% increase driven by the good performance of underlying assets, as I said before, and also our ability to achieve exits at a premium to asset value despite the impairment of a small number of legacy assets. Second, the continued adjustment of valuations in growth equity in a more conservative market environment. I would like to emphasize that portfolio value creation is never linear. Significant increases were recorded in 2021 and 2022, and the portfolio's average annual performance came to 10% over the last 5%, taking into account 2021, 2023, but also '23 and '24, in line with our 10-year historical average. In total, the net income attributable to the group for 2024 amounted to minus EUR 420 million for the year, comprising the following items: first, the positive contribution from asset management of plus EUR 158 million; second, the negative contribution, mainly noncash negative contribution from investment activities of EUR 544 million were mainly related to the portfolio movements, which I mentioned earlier. I will now hand over to Christophe, who will review our fundraising performance and asset rotation.

Thank you, William. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, nice to see you all again. Let me start with fundraising. As William just said, in 2024, we exceeded our initial targets. And as we will soon see, we have also managed to significantly accelerate our rollout as well as the disposals of our stakeholdings in 2024. As you can see on this slide, we raised EUR 4.3 billion from our customers, exceeding the EUR 4 billion initially amounts and this -- initially announced, and this represents a 23% increase year-on-year, which follows a 21% increase in 2023. And this performance clearly illustrates the quality of our activities as well as the relevance of Eurazeo's positioning as a leading European player in the mid-market segment focused on growth and impact investments. This momentum is also well distributed across the various activities. Here are a few examples. First of private debt funds recorded strong fundraising. In 2024, we nearly doubled the fundraising in this asset class, notably with the successful first closing of our new flagship fund EPD VII, Eurazeo Private Debt VII. Second, in buyout, we just announced the closing above expectations of our mid large buyout program at over EUR 3 billion via the Eurazeo Capital V fund. And this success is being driven by a new management team, and confirms the quality of our franchise and the attractiveness of our mid-market positioning in a European buyout market that is slightly complex. Also, in private equity, our secondary program is progressing well, and we are continuing to raise funds for the venture program via the Eurazeo Digital IV fund. Finally, in real assets, our sustainable infrastructure fund has finalized the closing of EUR 700 million last year, above its initial target of EUR 500 million, so 40% above it. And this is a remarkable performance for a first generation fund, which demonstrates that impact investing can be a powerful growth driver. In order to get 2025 off to a good start, we've just announced a very encouraging first closing of our impact by app fund, EPBF, Eurazeo Planetary Boundaries Fund. So as William mentioned, we're talking EUR 300 million. And that's at first closing. Let me say a few words about our private debt business, which now represents EUR 9 billion in assets under management, and that's a key growth driver for the group. We have a new direct lending vintage, EPD VII, which has already raised EUR 2.5 billion from third-party clients in 2024. In particular, this has attracted new international institutional investors, particularly in Asia. The lasting success of our direct lending franchise for private debt is based on 3 key pillars. They're simple, but they're key. First of all, a differentiating positioning where competition from the banks is lower and yield for investors are higher. Next, a pan-European presence with an international team established in 5 key regions intervening across the European market. And finally, a history of robust consistent performance over time with default rates close to 0. You will probably recall that at our Investor Day, we stated our ambition to develop our international presence with institutional investors and to strengthen our distribution channel dedicated to a legacy clientele in France and overseas. In 2024, we've moved ahead on both fronts. In 2 years, we have doubled the amount raised with institutional international investors who represent now over 60% of our overall collection versus less than 40% a few years ago. And in order to support this expansion, we have bolstered our sales teams with senior recruitments in key regions, Nordics, Middle East, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, where we opened an office in Tokyo. Our work solutions activity is rather unique in our sector and is the other key driver of our fundraising, with a consistent and increasing flows in 2024. We raised over EUR 900 million through this channel, representing over 20% of our total fundraising. Over EUR 5 billion are from private clients, accounting for over 19% of our assets under management for third parties. This success is mainly due to the success of our flagship Evergreen Fund, EPEV III, which was -- received an award at the IPM with the price for best mass affluent product. EPEV III is among the top 3 evergreen funds of private markets in Europe. We have started to develop our wealth activity outside of France with a very promising start in key countries such as Belgium, where we already see significant flows. We are signing -- continuing to sign distribution agreements in Italy, Switzerland and Germany. We're launching 2 new evergreen funds dedicated to international distributors who are prime range. One of them is on private credit and the other one is on secondary transactions in the private equity market. These initiatives will clearly enable us to step up our business in this promising sector. Now let's look at 2025. Well, I have to say that we have a robust fundraising pipeline, both with institutions and high net worth individuals. Our funds are at different stages. For the flagship funds, we have momentum underway with our direct lending and secondary transaction programs. We are planning an initial closing for the Eurazeo Growth 4 fund in the first half of this year, and the launch of our fifth buyout program in the lower mid-market segment between now and the end of the year through Eurazeo PMA. Three funds classified under Article 9 are also in the process of being launched. DPBF, which as we've said previously, has just made its first closing at EUR 300 million. ESMI II, which is wholly dedicated to the financing of decarbonization of maritime transport. We're preparing a second rollout of our sustainable infrastructure fund. We are also planning to launch the ease -- or refund Eurazeo operational real estate. And we are continuing our fundraising through our venture capital strategy. Looking at wealth solutions, as already mentioned, the launch of 2 new evergreen products, Prime. And we're also launching a new growth fund dedicated to high net worth individuals. Let's move on to investments and disposals. As you know, 2023 was a slack year for merger and acquisition transactions across all sectors. Eurazeo has done better than the market as a whole. And in 2024, we saw a gradual improvement in the market. And this is particularly true for the mid-market segment. We saw a strong step-up in disposals, which tripled from 1 year to the next to stand at EUR 3.4 billion, illustrating Eurazeo's capacity to monetize its assets and to generate distributions for its clients across all of its strategies. Redemptions were done on good terms, reflecting the quality of our investment strategy, which is reflected in the strong performance for clients and for our balance sheet we have actively continued our investments across all our favorite sectors in all asset classes. We have rolled out EUR 4.6 billion in 2024, which is an 18% increase compared to previous years. Investments remain strong in private debt, consistent with our success in fundraising. We've also exported very good opportunities, in particular with companies such as [indiscernible] in financial services. [indiscernible] in health care or EcoVadis, Mistral and [indiscernible] in technology and artificial intelligence. And you will see new investments in environmental solutions, such as [indiscernible]. So as you can see, we saw a dynamic successful 2024, both in fundraising and in asset rotation. So we would like to share a point that was emphasized by the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board, Jean-Charles Decaux, that Eurazeo now has a purpose and 5 values. And it's important to emphasize this. This is due to the teamwork on over 6 months involving over 50 internal and external participants that was endorsed by our Supervisory Board and all our internal governance bodies. And that's why we're very proud to share this with you here today. Our purpose has been set out in English so that it can be meaningful for all of our stakeholders, and it's worded as follows: championing European entrepreneurial excellence. The purpose or the [Foreign Language] in French -- in proper French is compass at key moments in the light of the company. But also regarding Eurazeo, it's the key direction of our messages to our customers and our managers in the companies in the portfolio. It genuinely sets out what we want and how our project is part of the company's business. It sets out why we want to be the preferred partner. Championing because we aspire to be recognized as promoters and defenders is everything that is best in entrepreneurship. European because that's our favorite territory. And we want to be a facilitator between the European ecosystem and the rest of the world entrepreneurial because directly or indirectly, we encourage and we facilitate the entrepreneurial spirit, not only in terms of business, but also through our CSR commitment or as an important excellence because we are clearly on the side of what is best in Europe and the approach -- and the exemplary approach in terms of creativeness, cross-virtualization responsibility, et cetera. And with our teams, we have also defined 5 values that we have posted on all walls, be it in Paris, London or elsewhere. There's no hierarchy here. They represent a coherent whole. And we wanted not only that they should express in simple words, but also provide to everyone -- for everyone a definition so that they can be clearly shared by all without any ambiguity whatsoever. I won't dwell long on this, but to summarize, the first one, we strive for the highest standards. That states that our culture is based on integrity, actions and professionalism. The second one, we foster entrepreneurial spirit, means that our state of mind is guided by innovation and boldness. The third, we act with heart, reflects our passionate character and the commitment that we have put across to our clients, to the managers of the companies in the portfolio and between us, between all the teams in Eurazeo. The fourth, we engage with lasting impact, is consistent with our DNA and our ambition, which is to support companies that have a positive impact on society at large, and this is what we do at Eurazeo. In other words, meaningful finance. And finally, we move forward united on which the Supervisory Board really gave us food for thought. This emphasizes the fact that as a team, as one Eurazeo, we encourage mutual support, encouraging close, robust relationships based on trust, listening to one another and humility. So we're now rolling out the purpose and the values through our internal processes in order for this not just to be a concept, but a genuine reality, which is seen by teams and our external stakeholders. So to summarize, we have achieved very good progress in '24 on the two thrusts of our strategic plan. Growth and transformation. We are building -- Eurazeo is building a market leader in private markets with clear, relevant positioning on the mid-year market in Europe based on growth and impact. We are posting regular progress in our results, driven by the growth in revenue and cost control. And finally, we are increasing the payback to our shareholders, which we have now doubled in the space of 2 years. So thank you very much from William and from myself. Thank you so much.

Thank you, William. Thank you Christophe, for this presentation. As you may have noticed, the shareholders, that your company is moving and has strong roots, strong fundamentals, and our road map for 2025 is extremely committed. Now I'd like to hand over to Sophie Flak. She'll present to us our sustainable report, which is a new thing. Sophie, you have the floor.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, 2024 was marked by the introduction of a new regulation, the CSRD Corporate Social Responsibility Directive. Under the CSRD, we are required to identify and measure the most material impacts, risks and opportunities on the sustainability front that we have identified 7 key environmental, social and governance issues that could have a major impact on your company's current and future performance. And you can see those on the screen. For Eurazeo, factoring sustainability into its strategy means, first and foremost, derisking the entire investment process in order to maximize value creation at exit. Indeed, companies have no future, unless they prepare for the new economic, environmental and social reality. Climate change is underway. Climate change is also inevitable. Therefore, it is imperative to factor that in, in order to maintain our competitiveness. Eurazeo's teams have been training for many years, and they are well equipped and fully mobilized. As you can see on the left, 100% of our funds factor sustainability into the investment process. And the transition is also creating many opportunities. More and more businesses are offering products, services and technologies that address the environmental and social challenges of our time. And this is what we call impact investing. And that's a growing contributor to your company's results as you can see, on the right-hand side. Together with all of our employees, together with Christophe and William, well, I firmly believe that impact investing represents significant potential for profitable growth for Eurazeo. And today, it accounts for over EUR 5 billion, and that's 14% of our assets under management. Our positioning and profitable impact investments is also how we stand out and attract customers, particularly in Europe and in the U.S., as reflected in the EUR 420 million raised by our impact funds in 2024, representing nearly 10% of total fundraising. Let's now turn to the second material challenge for Eurazeo and its investors, climate change. Eurazeo's emission come around 3.7 million tonnes of CO2. Equivalent to the emissions of 380,000 French people. Unsurprisingly, more than 99% of those emissions are generated by the companies we finance. We are committed to a strict decarbonization trajectory in line with the Paris agreement, using the global scientific benchmark methodology called the SBT or rather the science-based target initiative. And this is an assurance that we are serious about reducing our carbon footprint. We're not just greenwashing. And as you know, the SBT methodology requires setting ambitious targets and transparently communicating the results that we achieve each year. And you can see this on the screen. We are on track to meet our targets. You will notice an increase in our Eurazeo's emissions. And this increase is temporary. We are preparing our new premises on the [indiscernible]. However, on a like-for-like basis, we have continued to reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions by 14% to 82 tonnes of CO2. Across the portfolio, we have improved our performance by 10 points. 14% of our invested capital is covered by an approved decarbonization trajectory. We are making every effort to achieve our target of 25% by the end of the year and reach 100% by 2030. Amidst uncertainty caused by geopolitical tensions, in particular, our clients and teams understand the need to invest in companies that are ready -- that are getting ready for the new environmental reality in order to protect and maximize value creation. Finally. with regard to teams and their working conditions, and that's the third major material challenge for our company. Eurazeo has made significant progress in terms of gender parity both among its employees and on its supervisory board. Women also account for 32% of our senior management, and this places us among the leaders in our industrial. We also pay close attention to the working conditions of the 150,000 employees of the companies we finance. And I would like to emphasize that we are a major employer, both in France and in Europe. In conclusion, when you invest in Eurazeo, well, you're investing in a resilient company that manages its sustainability risks and seizes the opportunities generated by the new environmental and societal landscape. Eurazeo is a company that knows how to remain successful in a changing world. Thank you.

Thank you, Sophie, for this sustainability report, which is now part and parcel of our strategy and of the ways in which we manage the companies that we're investing in. Now last year from Gabriel Kunde. As usual, Gabriel Kunde will discuss the work carried out by the Supervisory Board in 2024. Gabriel, you're on.

After presenting the work carried out by the Supervisory Board in 2024, Ms. Francoise Mercadal-Delasalles, Chairwoman of the Compensation Selection Governance, can be able to provide more details on that work over the past year. As of December 31, 2024, your Board was composed of 12 members, including 2 employee representatives and 1 nonvoting member. Your company complies with current regulations, with 50% female representation on the Board and 60% independent members. At the end of today's shareholders meeting, Ms. St phane Pallez, Chairwoman of the Audit Committee and member of the Supervisory Board for 12 years, will not be standing for reelection, and you will be asked to vote on the reelection of JCDecaux Holding represented by Emmanuel Russel and Olivier Merveilleux du Vignaux, Vice Chairman of the Board. The composition of the Board reflects our goal of diversity in terms of profiles and professional experience. It's also balanced with members who have long-standing knowledge of the company and members who have joined the Board recently. The new members appointed at last year's AGM confirmed our Board's desire to further strengthen its financial analysis skills, knowledge of asset management and private equity and expertise in the governance of listed companies. They have also strengthened the expertise of the Audit and Compensation Committee at a time of significantly increased workloads for your group's governance bodies. You are familiar with the general duties assigned by law and our by-laws. Eurazeo's Supervisory Board. You can see it on the screen. Reminder that Eurazeo's strategic transformation into a diversified international asset management platform has led to a change in the Board's duties in recent years. Your Board now diverts its activities to reviewing and monitoring the implementation of the general strategy, reviewing and monitoring the strategy of the investment divisions, allocating the company's equity capital to the funds, the performance of those funds, and of course, your group's ESG strategy. During the 2024 financial year, you talked it to examine in detail at the request of your Board, such as the sustainability report. Also, the succession plan for the group's key executives, which was reviewed by the compensation committee. Four specialized standing committees assist the Supervisory Board in its decision-making. In accordance with best governance practices, the Audit Composition Committees are chaired and composed of a very large majority of independent members. During fiscal 2024, several appointments were made to strengthen these committees. Isabelle Ealet and Cathia Lawson-Hall were appointed to the Audit Committee. Isabelle Ealet and Julie Croquin, employee representatives were appointed to the Compensation Committee. And Louis Ster was appointed to the finance committee. Following Ms. Pallez departure, I would like to inform you that the Supervisory Board has decided to appoint Serge Schoen as Chairman of the Compensation Committee; and Fran oise Mercadal-Delasalles as Chairwoman of the Audit Committee. Both are independent Supervisory Board -- rather supervisory bodies met 19 times in 2024. The sustained activity reflects the members' strong involvement in monitoring the Executive Boards, implementation of the strategic plan. As you can see on the screen, it demonstrates at these meetings, particularly high, demonstrating the commitment to these members. It should be noted that 2 executive sessions were held during the financial year, bringing together the members of the Board of Directors without the presence of the members of the management board. During the 6 Board meetings held during fiscal 2024, main topics were discussed. You can see them on the screen, they revolve around 4 main themes: monitoring the implementation of the [indiscernible] strategy investment divisions, allocating the company's equity capital to the funds, reviewing the performance of the funds managed by the group as well as its non-financial performance and also governance and compensation. As it does every year, the Compensation Committee conducted an evaluation of the Board, among its members as recommended by the AFEP-MEDEF code and the High Council of Corporate Governance as we do every 3 years. This evaluation was conducted this year by the independent firm, Spencer Stuart. The Chairman of the Board also conducted individual interviews with each member together the assessment of the work carried out during the year and their expectations for the coming year. This assessment reflects a significant qualitative improvement in the functioning of governance within Eurazeo, and the members are very satisfied with the positive developments in your company's governance and the trusting and transparent dialogue with the Executive Board. Among the recommendations for 2025, the company will strengthen the training program for Board members this year as well as informal meetings between Board members and group executives in the context of growing complexity in our businesses. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Gabriel, for setting out the work that has been done, a very intensive effort here. I would now like to hand over to Madam Francoise Mercadal-Delasalles, who is the Chairperson of the Remuneration Selection and Governance Committee, the RSG Committee, who, as is customary, present the work of the committee.

Hello, everyone, dear shareholders, I am pleased to report on the work of the Compensation Selection and Governance Committee, the CAG Committee, over the last year. As I do every year, I would like to start by thanking the members of this committee for their regular attendance and their active and extremely constructive contribution to our work during fiscal 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. As you can see on the screen, our committee currently has 6 members, half of whom are independent. And one of them is an employee representative. Following this AGM, I will be pleased to hand over the chairmanship of this committee to Serge Schoen because the Supervisory Board has decided to appoint me to succeed St phane Pallez as Chairperson of the Audit Committee. I have my work cut out for myself. This year, we met 9 times, and this sustained activity was, of course, mainly linked to a shared desire on the part of the committee and the company's leadership team to review policies and market practices across all remuneration aggregates for Eurazeo employees, fixed salaries, variable remuneration, long-term compensation and co-investment programs. In-depth studies were conducted, sometimes with the help of independent experts, in order to compare our practices with those of our peers, and propose any necessary adjustments. And of course, the committee also worked actively throughout the year on the structural issues that fall within agreements, the composition of the Board, the gender pay equality policy, the treatment of related party agreements and the assessment of the Board's performance for 2024. Let me start with changes in variable compensation for Executive Board members for 2024. As I mentioned, the quantitative criteria for variable pay were completely redefined in 2023 in order to better align the interests of executives with those of shareholders. That's a constant concern for the CAG committee. And these new criteria results in variable compensation for members of the Executive Board of 75.9% of their fixed salary. And this result is linked to more ambitious performance criteria set by the Supervisory Board. Well, performance criteria that are more ambitious than previous years and also linked to the failure to meet the criterion related to the change in net asset value for 2024 in a global economic environment that is generally fragile and also in line with the group's prudent and disciplined valuation policy, as William Kadouch-Chassaing pointed out, earlier. On the other hand, I would like -- and I think that the rest of the committee agrees, I would like to highlight the excellent performance of the criteria relating to the development of asset management, which is your company's priority. First of all, on FRE, fee-related earnings, that's the group's operating margin. You heard about that before. And chiefly, the achievement of the fundraising criterion in the markets that was in sharp decline in 2024. And above all, our outperformance of our fundraising criterion compared with our budget. Finally, I would like to note the committee's unanimous desire to command in the qualitative section of the 2024 bonus to commend the successful execution by your Management Board of the first year of our group's strategic and modernization plan, as our Chairman pointed out in his introduction. So you will see on -- displayed on the screen, the variable remuneration of members of the Management Board for 2024 as decided upon by the Supervisory Board, and which are tabled through the resolution, which will be put to the vote at the end of this general meeting. I would also like to move on to the composition of the Supervisory Board. As we said earlier, we are recommending the renewal of the term of Mr. Olivier Merveilleux du Vignaux, who is Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board and a member of the Finance and RSG committees. Olivier has been a member of your Supervisory Board for over 20 years. He represents the David Vial family, which is the founding -- the founder of Eurazeo and the second largest shareholder in the group. His attendance of the Supervisory Board and at the committees is 100%. We are also recommending the renewal of the term of Jean-Charles Decaux Holding, represented by its CEO, Emmanuel Russel, Chairperson of the RSC, the CSR Committee and member of the Finance Auditor and RSG committee. Mr. Russel represents the Decaux family, which is a key shareholder at Eurazeo since 2017. He has also attended 100% of the meeting. Now regarding the composition of the Supervisory Board, as Gabriel mentioned a few minutes ago, St phane Pallez is not asking for the renewal of her term. I would like, on behalf of the RSG Committee and on my own behalf, to thank her very warmly and convey our extremely friendly thank you for her wonderful contribution to the growth of Eurazeo over the past 12 years. And the unanimous view is that she has been a wonderful chairperson of the Audit Committee of our group. After this general assembly, the Board will therefore comprise 11 members, including 2 representatives of the employees and 1 lead director. It will comprise 44% women, 56% of independent members, which puts Eurazeo at the top of our governance standards. Regarding the remuneration policy for 2025, we have decided on 3 adjustments that we felt were essential midway through the mandate of the Management Board in order for the variable remuneration criteria to better reflect the business model of our group. I'll start off with the second point, which is variable remuneration criteria. We have decided to lower the weighting for -- regarding performance of total shareholder return of Eurazeo in relation to the LPX index because we felt it was too volatile over a single fiscal year, and to reweight the -- to readjust the criteria for fundraising and fee-related earnings, FREs, which are at the heart of the mandate entrusted to the management board in the development of the asset management. Regarding the criterion on the creation of value of the JVP in absolute terms, we have not modified the current trend, but we have introduced the concept or the idea, whereby 80% of the criteria would be based on the creation of value across the whole of the portfolio, and 20% only on investments completed since January 2023 since the beginning of the current Management Board term. Regarding long-term management remuneration criteria, we decided on a consistent evolution consistent with the mandate entrusted to the Management Board and are integrating a new criteria representing 10% of the evolution of the evaluation of the run. The criterion regarding the long-term performance of the portfolio on the balance sheet. There, we have the weighting down by -- from 70% to 50%, and we have increased the weighting of criteria regarding the performance of total shareholder return versus the SBF120 and the LPX. Regarding the fixed remuneration, the standards of members of the Management Board, we've decided to raise the salary of Madam Sophie Flak to EUR 450,000 from EUR 400,000 at present in order to valorize the broadening of the area of expertise. So Sophie, indeed, is now supervising, in addition to our supervisory duties on ESG and digital, the development of the EPVF Investment division. The RSG committee also looked at the end of the conditions for the end of the term of duty of Mr. Olivier Millet, who's announced his intention to resign as a member of the Board. Regarding his resignation, Mr. Millet was not eligible for a severance pay off further to his corporate officers mandate. His payoff has been established in strict compliance with legal requirements. As part of this departure and with early transition in a harmonious manner, Olivier Millet will keep the benefit of his performance shares on a pro rata temporis basis, of course. Finally, the company wanted to be able to continue to draw on the expertise of Mr. Olivier Millet as a senior adviser, in particular for the fundraising for the PME V fund. I would like to thank Olivier on behalf of all the RSG Committee for his 20 years of commitment to Eurazeo, the building of one of the leading franchises in Europe on the small cap segment and for preparing a succession, which has really been a very good quality and very beneficial to the company. Regarding long-term instruments, after a precise in-depth review of market comparisons, 9.5 months of performance shares have been allocated to the co-CEOs and 7 months from that I'm certainly flat for the number of shares. I think you have the exact number of shares that have been granted appearing on the screen. And this is contingent on performance criteria presented just a few moments ago over a 3-year period. Moreover, we've authorized new -- 2 new joint investment programs and the subscription to these programs of members of the Management Board. As you know, these joint investment programs enable an alignment of interest between the senior management and employees of Eurazeo who thus invest in funds that are managed by the group alongside third-party investments with an incentive. The detailed presentation of these programs and the amounts invested by the members of the Management Board are set out in the fourth resolution, which is being tabled -- put to the vote as well as in the registration documents of the company. Finally, regarding the remuneration policy of the members of the Supervisory Board, we have not modified the overall amount, which has been established since 2018 nor the fixed and variable shares of remuneration. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Francoise. Thank you for this very exhaustive report, as always. I would, of course, wish on behalf of the Supervisory Board to thank, commend Stephane Pallez, who's sitting here right in front of me. And Stephane, I would like to thank you for your commitment, your unswerving commitment, your intelligence. And so -- as you can imagine, in order to transform a group, you need to have a vision. You need a will and you need a team and team commitment. And I think that Stephane Pallez as the Chairperson of the Audit Committee and as an experienced corporate officer has greatly contributed and challenged specific topics, given her strategic insight, our technical ability. So on the unanimous decision of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board who are here today, I think we can thank her for having discharged her duties with extraordinary commitment and loyalty, which have made a very significant contribution to our group. And I think that all of our teams and our shareholders are here in the room. I think we can thank her very warmly. And I would like to give a very warm round of applause. Thank you so much, Stephane. So after this slightly emotional moment, let's get back to our meeting. So I'd now like to call on Madame [indiscernible] to report on the work of the statutory auditors for 2024. Over to you.

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. The statutory orders -- auditors have published 6 reports, which are in the registration document that has been submitted to the AMF by your group 3 reports on the ordinary general meeting and 3 reports regarding the extraordinary general meeting. Our 2 first reports -- first 2 reports concern the annual financial statements and the consolidated annual financial statements. Your -- Management Board has established the financial statements and the consolidated financial state of the group consistent with French accounting principles and IFRS standards. We certify that these accounts are accurate and provide a faithful and accurate reflection of the financial situation and the assets of your company and the group. Consistent with provisions of the Commerce Code, our reports present the key points of the audit. These key items of the audit are presented in detail in the report. These key points of the audit have been discussed in detail with your group's management and with our Audit Committee. Our third report concerns the related party agreements and is presented in Page 354 of the registration document. In this report, we are presenting for each related party agreement or commitment, the nature of the related party agreement, the benefit of the related party agreement for your company, the financial terms associated with these related party agreements and the physical and legal persons. In the first part of the report, we indicate that the related party agreement should have been approved by your Supervisory Board and concluded during the year and [indiscernible]. This year, 2 new related party agreements are being tabled for your approval. They concern the establishment of joint investment programs as decided by the meeting of the Supervisory Board on the 12th of December 2024, Eurazeo Planetary Boundaries Fund and Citadel Continuation Fund SLP. In the second part of this report, we recall that in the first instance, the related party agreements that you've already approved previous general meetings during the previous year. And the next, the related party agreement is approved at the general meeting on the 7th of May 2024. We do not have any comments on the information provided in the Management Board report on authorizations and transactions envisioned, the definitive conditions in which the issue will be made were not said. We do not have any particular opinion on this. We will provide an additional report, if necessary, when these authorizations are used by your Management Board. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. [indiscernible]. I will now hand over to the General Secretary, Gabriel Kunde, who will now present the resolutions submitted through your vote this year. Gabriel?

Ladies and gentlemen, this year, we have a list of 22 resolutions, 18 resolutions fall within the remit of the ordinary GM and 4 come under the extraordinary GM. The full text of the resolutions is included in the meeting notice and in the [ ERD ] on Pages 333 and sequence. Resolutions 1 and 3 concern the approval of the individual and consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2024. Second, the allocation of the net loss and the payout of dividends. The allocation of earnings presented on the screen. This year, we propose an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.65 per share corresponding to an increase of plus 10%, a 10% dividend premium, i.e., EUR 2.92 per share. The increased dividend will therefore be paid in lieu of the ordinary dividend exclusively to shares held in registered form no later than December 31, 2024, which remain registered in this form without interruption until the dividend payment date. The number of shares eligible for this dividend increase may not exceed 0.5% of the share capital of any single shareholder. The dividend will be detached from the share on May 26, 2025, and paid on May 28, 2025. Resolution 4, approval of the related party agreements and commitments presented in the special report of the statutory auditors referred to earlier by [indiscernible] mainly concern the contractual documentation to be entered into with the members of the Executive Board and the members of the investment team to govern the respective investments and funds of to third-party investors. Two co-investment programs were authorized during fiscal 2024. Eurazeo Planetary Boundaries Fund and Citadel Continuation Fund SLP. Resolution 5, renewal of the term of office of Olivier Merveilleux Du Vignaux as a member of the Supervisory Board for a period of 4 years. I would like to point out that subject to his reappointment as a member of the Supervisory Board, Olivier Merveilleux Du Vignaux was reappointed by the Supervisory Board on March 5 2025 as Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board for the duration of his term of office as a member of the Supervisory Board. We also propose by way of the sixth resolution to renew the term of office of JCDecaux Holding SAS represented by Emmanuel Russel as a member of the Supervisory Board for a term of 4 years. By way of Resolution 7 and 8, we submit for your approval the 2025 compensation policy for members of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board presented in the URD, mentioned earlier by Fran oise Mercadal-Delasalles. Under Resolutions 9 to 14, we propose that you approve the remuneration paid or awarded to Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Supervisory Board; and Christophe Bavi re, William Kadouch-Chassaing or Olivier Millet, not forgetting Sophie Flak, members of the Executive Board for fiscal 2024 as well as the remuneration report relating to these corporate officers. I remind you that on March 17, 2025, the Supervisory Board of Eurazeo took note of the resignation of Olivier Millet from his position as member of the Executive Board. Consequently, by voting on Resolution 14, you're also asked to approve the compensation and benefits paid or granted to Olivier Millet from January 1 to March 17, 2025, including the terms and conditions of his termination. These items have been presented to you by Ms. Mercadal Delasalles and can be found on Page 192 of your URD. The purpose of Resolution 15 is to renew the authorization for share buyback program within the legal limits in force, i.e., up to 10% of the share capital. The features of this program are shown on the screen. Pursuant to the provisions of the order of December 6, 2023, transposing the CSRD directed, your company is required to appoint an auditor responsible for certifying sustainability information. Therefore, we propose by way of Resolution 16 to appoint Forvis Mazars as statutory auditor responsible for certifying sustainability information for a term of 4 financial years corresponding to the remaining term of its mandate as statutory auditor for the certification of accounts. By way of Resolution 17, we submit for your approval the ratification of this decision of the Supervisory Board on October 16, 2024, to transfer the company's registered office to 66 rue Pierre Charron in the 8th -- of Paris. We will now move on to the extraordinary resolutions. By way of Resolution 16, we propose to renew the authorization granted to the Management Board to reduce the share capital by canceling all or part of the shares that the company holds or may acquire under share buyback programs up to a limit of 10% of the share capital per 24-month period. This authorization will cancel and replace Resolution 22 voted by the AGM on April 26, 2023. By way of Resolution 19, we propose that you renew the authorization granted to the Management Board to allocate existing or newly issued shares of the company, free of charge, to employees or corporate officers of the company and/or its affiliates that is proposed to renew this authorization under the same conditions as the authorization granted on April 28, 2022, in its 35th resolution, namely. The maximum number of shares that may be allocated free of charge is 3% of the share capital for a period of 38 months, an average of 1% per year. And within this limit, the number of shares that may be allocated free of charge to corporate officers is limited to 1.5% of the share capital on the date of the Management Board's decision. We note that on the recommendation of the CAG Committee, the Supervisory Board on March 6, 2024, decided that starting in fiscal 2024, the long-term compensation of Management Board members and eligible employees will consist solely of performance shares. Consequently, it has been decided not to renew the resolution authorizing the granting of options to subscribe for or purchase shares in the company, which will expire on June 27, 2025. Resolution 20, renew the authorization granted to the Management Board to carry the capital increase through the issuance of shares and/or securities, giving access to capital reserved for members of the company's savings plan, employees of Eurazeo or its affiliates for a maximum nominal amount of EUR 2 million, which is identical to that authorized by the shareholders' meeting on May 7, 2024. By way of Resolution 21, we propose in accordance with the provisions of the Attractiveness Act of June 13, 2024, to amend Article 13 of the Articles of Association relating to the deliberations of the Supervisory Board in order to specify the procedures for consulting the members of the Supervisory Board in writing using postal voting and for any member of the Supervisory Board to object to the use of written consultation. It is specified this mechanism is intended for ad hoc meetings where applicable in addition to the 6 meetings scheduled in the Supervisory Board's annual calendar. Finally, the 22nd and last resolution grants the power to complete the customary formalities. Thank you for your kind attention.

Dear shareholders, time for Q&A. We're standing by to answer your questions. [Operator Instructions] Question one Mr. [indiscernible].

Congratulations, Mr. [ Decaux ]. So objectively describing the current economic environment. I have a question regarding subscription to the products. Can they be subscribed directly with Eurazeo? Or do we need to go through a financial intermediary? Second question, regarding the increase in dividend. Do we need to subscribe with a financial intermediary? How long does it take to get it? Or do we register directly? And this ties in with my first question regarding the wealth fund, which is intended for individual investors. Thank you kindly for your answers.

Thank you sir for your comments and your 3 questions. I'll let Christophe, William, Gabriel answer those 3 questions. Let me start by thanking you, first and foremost, for showing such a keen interest. Now the funds intended for individual investors can be subscribed to with banks, insurance companies and wealth managers. We're happy to recommend some of our partners. And you can include them in life insurance schemes, retirement funds and some of those products can be subscribed directly, and this gives you tax breaks. You may or may not go through dedicated financial intermediaries because we do not specialize in individual investors and the outstandings for this product already come to EUR 3 billion. It's our flagship product, [ EPEV3 ]. So like I said, outstandings under management come to EUR 3 billion. It's easy to subscribe. You can do it every week. It's open for 99 years all the time. And you can exit, there are gates exiting every quarter. Our teams will be happy to provide you with additional details if necessary. But it's simply to go through retirement savings fund or life insurance schemes. That's the easiest way to subscribe. Now the increase is 10%. Holders of pure registered shares have been holding those shares for over 2 years. Hold your horses, please repeat the question because we can't really hear you up here on stage. If you go through financial intermediary, but there's still registered shares, the answer is yes, it is possible. So you need the financial intermediary in order to convert those shares to registered shares. Does that answer your question? But we're looking forward to your subscription of the wealth fund. We have people in this room. They can help you. Number two, no worries, everybody will get a chance.

[indiscernible], I'm an individual shareholder. I'm extremely disappointed in share -- in stock exchange performance, whether over the past 9 months of the past year, the past 3 years, there are several things I want to understand. First of all, what about your poor performance in investment? That's cherry on the cake, isn't it? How do you explain such dismal performance? Secondly, Eurazeo's investment philosophy, how do you stand apart from your competition, other investment players? And what are the common denominators with [indiscernible] method because they're the benchmark at a global level and maybe there are things that you disagree on. It's very possible. And since [indiscernible] left the group, what's happened to the group? Up until 2023, you had on board one of the top most influential women on the planet. So objectively, have you stopped ticking? Net income came to EUR 1.1 billion, down to -- down by EUR 430 million in 2024. So what is the trademark of the new leadership team? Thank you -- since this lady's departure?

Now I'm not going to answer your question regarding your thoughts on our management team. But this actually ties in with your first question. Share price. EUR 65 is true. This is much lower than the intrinsic value. We believe that the company's intrinsic value is much higher than EUR 120 per share, take the EUR 108. That's the value of the portfolio. To date, you need to take out EUR 18 that's net debt at December 31 and add if we take the average from the different financial analysts that follow our share price, take out EUR 30 million for asset management. So as you can see, we are significantly lower than the company's intrinsic value considering today's share price. And if you look at it from a different angle, there's huge potential for improvement. So there are other things that are much more positive that have taken place. For example, the new leadership team, let me tell you that in 2023, 2024 until mid-2024, Eurazeo's share price outperformed the various indices in its sector, and that's happened in a long time because we finally adopted a clear strategy, a clear business model for capital allocation and growth and also asset manager -- and our positioning as asset managers. You may remember that in November 2023, the share price improved by 15%. And then throughout 2023, it improved by 24%, which was higher than the sectors index in Europe and also the SPF sector. And then in 2024, political stability happened in France and Europe. And so we reestablished correlation with the SPF 20 and we decorrelated from the SPX. So since 2025, early 2025, we've been outstanding quite a storm, Eurazeo, minus 9%. It's, of course, a source of disappointment for us. Equity minus 9%; Bridgepoint, minus 25%; [ Alta, ] minus 12%; same thing for the rest of the competition. There are global events that are impacting our model. And as a result, diversified finance players specialist players such as asset managers are withstanding quite a storm. Now I understand that this answer may not satisfy you. How can we satisfy you? How can we go back to the good old days of November 2023 to mid-2024, the situation of overperformance. As Fran oise Mercadal Delasalles said earlier, well, that's precisely why a correlation between compensation, share price compensation has been strengthened by the Compensation Committee. That is the indicator that we'll monitor closely as a token of success. Now in our equity story, there are 2 plans that are seen as attractive by investors, a growth plan in order to restore our leadership as a true asset manager. Let me remind you of what happened. This is an important factor. As you can see, the indicators moving into positive territory on our ability to show that the asset management, is well understood by the client. It has a good positioning. It's gaining market share, whereas you have negative collection in the industry as a whole. Next, there's a transformation plan. The transformation plan is very closely linked to our ability to exit assets. You're talking about 2021, which was an exceptional year in investments, a rebound of recovery in the indices after the pandemic in 2020. Eurazeo rotated over 35% of its balance sheet at the time. That was a different situation altogether. Our context is the war in Ukraine. Energy crisis, negative interest rates between 2014 and 2022 and now interest rates that are well back into positive territory with all the consequences on inflation. And you can see what's happening in the asset management industry as a whole. And you see what's happened in terms of turbulence since early 2025. So fundamentally, we're operating in a completely different environment. However, we've made gains. We've sold more assets than the sector on average, looking at the rotation indicators. So we presented a 4-year plan, a 4-year plan that will bring up value in 4 dimensions: one, growth of a robust asset management; number two, the reweighting -- adjustment of the weighting between what we have on the balance sheet which is still discounted across most of the holdings, a 50% discount and the asset management should enable the discount to close in on the portfolio section. And then you have EUR 2.3 billion basically that has been returned to investors. So there's some turbulence since the beginning of the year. You're quite right in saying that the stock market performance is unsatisfactory, but it's for us to deliver results consistently over the 4-year period, which is the average period for holding assets. We can't do -- rotate the whole balance sheet in less than 4 years. Just a few words on what has changed. And I don't want to talk about persons. You have people in the company and you respect the people you have. The first thing we've given to this company is that we have endowed the company with a business model. We're not a hybrid operator. We're an asset management. We have structured everything that had to be structured in order to be a high-performance asset management. We've laid the foundations regarding transactions, steering, operations, allocation of balance sheet, compliance, IT. So we built the base with HR -- we've built the foundations for the HR, and then we've closed in on performance. And with that very long reply, I'll now answer to your question on investment. For those who joined the company 3 years ago, we have the legacy of many years where there were not only good investments. So the weight of the inventory accounts for the fact that in 2023 and 2024, we had 0 value creation on the balance sheet. Put otherwise, everything that was invested since 2023 has posted a double-digit value creation. We've been here since February 2023. As a reminder, we'll see how it works out over time, but that's the answer I can give here and now. I have a question on the investment philosophy of Eurazeo. You had a question there. Attacking the Americans on all this, we have to be humble here. But we're sharing the fact that there's an investment philosophy at Eurazeo, and it's fairly unique, and it's very difficult for others to copy it. What we're financing are companies, small, medium-sized companies, and we're helping them to grow more quickly than average. And to do that, we have methods. And what you should take away -- there's one thing to take away. The Eurazeo teams have their expertise, but the ones who really have the talent are the managers of the stakes that we hold. We ensure that the growth of these companies is higher than average. We take a small company sometimes. We invest a lot in innovation. We're among the biggest investors in venture firms, in highly innovative companies. And we take other companies and we help them to consolidate their sector. Europe is a wonderful universe for midsized companies. We have to help them. And what we're doing is applying buy and build external growth. And [indiscernible] is a leader in cybersecurity. And when they buy their leading U.K. competitor and become a European leader, they become #1 in Europe. So it's more expensive than a local leader. Another thing that we're doing, and we have offices around the world to do this. Very few investment funds can say that they have a team of a dozen persons in China that are helping the companies funded by Eurazeo. We're not talking about relocating. We're talking about increasing our business in China and Asia when we take a company like DORC which makes medical equipment for eye surgery, and we hope them to open up the Chinese market to penetrate the market. When you're the leader in medical equipment for eye surgery in Europe and you go into the Asian market, this creates value, and you've heard this in Sophie's presentation. The fourth driver is to say with or without Trump, we have climate change. It's upon us. And if we don't help companies, there's no secret here, in 5 years, we'll be thinking about this and handing over to another financial investor. So if we don't help these companies on climate change today to better understand that in 5 years, the criteria will be even more strict on processes, on governance and societal and environmental issues. So Eurazeo's philosophy is that we take European champions -- European champions. DORC, maybe a lot of you know the leading company for medical equipment for eye surgery. We take those champions. We help them to grow through innovation, through external growth by buying their competitors, through international growth, by improving their ESG processes. So that's the philosophy of Eurazeo. And to conclude, after those answers, William and Christophe answers have very clearly articulated. But going back to the last point of your question to a few words. When you make that kind of decision, when the Supervisory Board makes that kind of decision, it's a decision that's based on facts. So there were different issues that led us to make this decision. First of all, clarification of the strategy that was necessary, and I think that was implicit in your question when you asked the question. And the second thing is that we had announced since 2018 an acceleration in the transformation of the company and a shift towards asset management. And finally, a business model that has to be based on the long-standing structure, but on the cultural -- the client culture and the approach, the philosophy of our partners, which is quite different. And we felt that this has not been dealt with sufficiently in depth, in speed and quality of execution. And the third point, and William made this clear, it was the method for a company that's an international company that has a horizon that's European and that seeks to take European or domestic champions in order to make them into large global groups, you need a method and a process. Investment is not an art, it's a science. And it is from time to time and science is consistent over time, even though people may no longer believe quite strongly across the Atlantic, but we do have to base ourselves on science. And the fourth important point was consistency in performance. For all of those reasons and without talking about individuals, I don't like doing that at all. We needed change. And that's why in 2023, the change took place, notwithstanding all the qualities that you've referred to, which are clearly very real, but it wasn't a matter of personal issues here. It was a matter of corporate strategy. Looking at the stock, the share price, it's obviously very important because it's the referee, if you're a joint CEO, I'm just the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board. As you know, the strategic execution is in the hands of the Management Board. The Supervisory Board plays its role, but does not exceed that role. And it's important to recall that if this general meeting had taken place 6 months ago, the picture would have been -- the snapshot would have been very different. And as you're an experienced enlightened person, you know this full well. And the spot stock price is always a very delicate matter. And we definitely cannot say that the share price is where it should be. Not so long ago, it was at EUR 80, it's now at EUR 65. I do not think that, that reflects all the work that is being done with a lot of commitment by the Management Board, which is here today and for all the teams, some of which are here with us in the room. And inevitably, inexorably, the reality will emerge. Geopolitics is not an excuse, but it does provide an explanation. And the choices we've made in recent weeks should help us in that clarification, this acceleration and the consistency of the results over time of our excellent company. I think there were some other questions.

Sir, 3, Hello, Chairperson. I'm an individual long-term shareholder, with a long-term view. From what I've understood, the strategic evolution of the group is such that investments are being made in share capital and investment that's being done -- that are being done through funds that are going to grow. What are the benefits and drawbacks of both of these forms of investment or investment channels? And clearly, investors may want to see a return over a specific time lines, 4 to 5 years. And is it not possible to have investments that take you beyond 4 to 5 years? So that's the benefits and drawbacks of investing in share capital. Next on debt, you're saying that debt is representative investment for the future. You have debt on the one hand and you have equity capital on the other. You need to be very careful that you maintain a proper balance between the 2. And now the thing is not everyone takes part in general meetings, not everyone votes on the important decisions for the company. So how can I put it? How can you exercise your knowledge to develop the company? I'm not altogether clear to me. And next, you invested in many companies. Could we not hear a bit more about that? Looking at AI companies, can you tell us how you go about meeting business leaders, CEOs, funding these companies? And are these companies going to remain in our portfolio for 5 years and there'll be a multiple of 2.3 or 2.5? Or could it be an investment, which is what others have done in open AI? And the valuation levels are very significant. As a small shareholder, we'd be very happy to be able to enjoy the investment and the development of companies.

Thank you for those 3 questions. There's no such thing as a small shareholder, not for Eurazeo. Okay. I'll take the first one, and Christophe will answer the other 2 questions. We would like to thank individual shareholders for their loyalty. You account for 12% of the total share capital. And the number of individual shareholders has increased by 50% over the past 3 years. Let me address your first question and also your second question regarding debt. And this is true also for the third question on strategy. Obviously, all of that is core to our strategy. And this ties in with the question raised by the previous person. At the end of the day, this is core to what we try to define, and that's our business model. What about this company's future business model? Eurazeo was an investment holding and then it switched to a more hybrid model. This is not a model that revolves around the stock exchange. It's not a management-based model either, and people need to understand why they get up in the morning. They get up to serve their customers. So today, this is a model that doesn't allow for a perfect alignment when it comes to capital allocation. So we have decided to radically overhaul the model with that a switch to something new. It's a bit like digital technology or customer -- or customer base. We don't do things halfway. So we decided to switch to an asset management-based model. And this means that in the future, in terms of our balance sheet, we will invest only in funds developed by the asset manager. We will no longer developing a pure on account strategies. No. This being said, we will not invest in funds systematically. For each fund, we take a look. We decide whether or not making an investment will improve our competitive edge when it comes to fundraising. Maybe customers feel that it's a good thing to have Eurazeo on their side with specific structuring, et cetera. Now we won't do that. We won't do that unless we are convinced that the fundraising strategy works for you and makes your money work for you and delivers the level of performance that's compatible with the best quartile for our comparables. And the third aspect, and you're absolutely right, this means that we don't need EUR 8 billion to develop our asset management activity. We have about EUR 8 billion in equity. And this means that we told the markets and we shared the strategy with the market, we're going to calibrate the balance sheet based on what we need in the future to develop asset management and have proper performance levels. And the rest we will return to our shareholders, and that's what we're doing. Now as a subscript to what William said, don't put the 2 together. Management for yourself and management for third parties, I mean, why should you pick one against the other? We -- means we have more resources. We have a team of 10 people in China that helps those companies financed by Eurazeo to grow their business in China. And it's a good thing. Very few investment funds can boast the same, can claim that they have a structured team and that they've already supported French SMEs and ATIs on the Chinese market. But we need to do much better than this. We don't have a team in India, but the Indian market is very promising. The middle class is rising there, and this is why we're working in the field of ophthalmology because eye surgery is a key requirement in the Indian market. So there's no opposition between developing own account and third-party asset management. But we've invested quite a bit into our HR, into our own talents. And using this example, one day, we will need to be able to provide the same level of service to our companies in India. Now you had a question on debt. It's true. It's main aspects of the kind of financing we provide. We never provide funds to a company through both debt and equity. And when we do use debt, we use the same investment philosophy. And this brings us back to your question. We use the same philosophy as when we provide equity. So we provide financing to companies that are busy consolidating the presence in Europe. And you can't consolidate unless you've received a little bit of help from a partner through debt. Now there's this company called [indiscernible] and they're busy consolidating the vet clinic market. Many of these vet clinics are held by 60-year-old vets and 60 years ago, they used to be the entrepreneur in the neighborhood, but not anymore. Their children are going to keep up the business. And so there are chains that are taken over the market and they want to streamline their cost structure. So getting back to what we're doing. For debt, we use the same philosophy, the same investment philosophy as we do for equity. If that's your key takeaway, make it this. Duly noted, there are hundreds of companies that receive financing from Eurazeo and they deserve that we spend the time and explain to you the extent to which companies in Europe are talented and they can fast track their innovation drive, they can consolidate the market. And instead of just being a leader on the French market, they can become a leader in Europe. And so it's a surprise for us all as French citizens and as EU citizens. And we want to do better than the Americans. And we need to adapt better to global changes.

One last question. The clock is ticking.

A quick question. My name is Mr. [indiscernible] invest 6% of your capital in treasury shares at about EUR 2.5 million. That's 3% of the capital allocated to performance shares or bonus shares. Do you believe that's the right ratio? Do you believe this ratio will last over time? You said you wanted to return money to shareholders ultimately. Are there limitations when it comes to canceling 10% of the share capital? Is that a restriction for you? And the Management Board had 4 members, now 3 members. Will things stay as they are? And regarding Aroma-Zone, Aroma-Zone is extremely popular. We don't know their figures, but do you think those figures are good? Also, when it comes to funds, you don't co-invest in all of your funds. What about third parties that invest into those funds? Do they systematically know whether Eurazeo is going to invest in the funds. So there are very -- they are very long. There are 6 pages of co-management possibilities. It's quite difficult to understand. How about a summary? We don't understand who's investing. Is it [ Eurazeo? ] Is it the Management Board? Is it the leadership team, lots of different formulas. It's very hard to find your bearings. Also there are performance shares in there, so it's hard to understand.

That was supposed to be a quick question, but it's a really dense question. You're asking a lot of questions in a single one. Regarding distribution and the connection with own shares or treasury shares. As part of the program as presented to the market, we're planning to return EUR 1.5 billion to shareholders that are share buyback programs over 4 years, 2025, '26, '27. So by and large, and I guess it depends on the circumstances, but at the required rhythm, the maximum is 5% of the capital that you need to buy back before you cancel the shares. So relative to the 10% quantum, when you add up what you need to do in order to execute the plan, that's -- and of course, we are subject to performance criteria, as you know. And also for share buyback purposes, 10% is enough. We don't need more. We don't need to proceed differently. When it comes to Eurazeo funds, yes, we always work very explicitly. Whenever we market a fund to a customer, the share and the amount of what Eurazeo as a company intends to invest into the fund, that's always made extremely explicit. Now obviously, there may be some voting restrictions to avoid conflicts of interest. But for customers, things are always out in the open. When it comes to Aroma-Zone, Antonio, do you want to say a few words? Maybe not give figures, but, yes, this is a very handsome company that is doing really well.

This is our [indiscernible] partner here is driving the portfolio. We are very happy with Aroma-Zone's success, which has been fact tracked over the past few quarters, and this reflects our current investment strategy. Aroma-Zone used to be a primary company. And for the past 3 years now, we have helped to structure its leadership team. We're working very much in depth. We're helping them improve the depth of their commercial offering and expand their sales team in France and in the U.K. That's what we'll be doing over the next few months. In terms of co-investment programs, that's a conventional mechanism, conventional throughout the markets. Obviously, all of our competitors use that mechanism. But since our group was created in 2003, we've been using this mechanism. And you can find details in Section 5.14 of the URD. So investors who invest in our funds and sometimes those investors include Eurazeo because we're investing in our own equity and investors are asked to invest alongside us, so as to share risks and share capital gains. That's what we call a co-investment programs and for transparency reasons because members of the Executive Board are also officers every year in the URD, we publish all of the money invested as part of these programs as allowed by the corporate officers. And whenever the capital gain is materialized, we also publish the outcome after 8 to 9 months. We're looking at the amounts received by Eurazeo third-party investments and also Eurazeo employees who invested alongside the other investors. And as part of this change in philosophy, we are trying to expand our teams. Obviously, we understand that senior investors can't necessarily invest the same amounts as junior investors, but we are trying to promote that. We are trying to make sure that our teams can invest very broadly. It's a paradigm shift. And [indiscernible] is part of a team that's in charge. And so we promote team spirit in co-investments. So this gentleman raised his hand several times. So we'll make an exception and answer his question.

After talking about this wonderful company, another company that's important to you, I think. I was astounded when I heard about this is Doctolib. Now Doctolib is losing EUR 150 million for several years. What is management doing? What can be done for that great company, which, of course, we will know.

William?

Well, I'll take that question as I supervise the gross equity because Lala Fadel, who is in charge of gross equity couldn't be with us today. Yes, Dr. Lib is a great company. It's one of the companies in our portfolio that has the strongest growth. It posted over 25% organic growth in 2024. And it's a unicorn that has become part of the landscape with market share that is really excellent, both in France and increasingly in Germany. And it's at a turning point here, a very promising turning point with a tool that is developing for doctors based on artificial intelligence. This company still has very significant potential value creation. And I can clarify the following. It has greatly reduced its use of cash, which were due to its growth investments. And in France, in its core market, it's very close to equilibrium. So we're not at all on the basis of the EUR 150 million loss that you were talking about. And finally, it has a strong capital base. It has several years of cash ahead of it, of available cash to absorb any losses. And in actual fact, it's reaching a breaking point. Right. What I suggested that we move on to the vote of resolutions after the question-and-answer session. Gabriel?

77.5% on the video, I'll just display the video for use of [indiscernible]. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, the remote control device is for strictly for personal use. The number of votes that you have present has been loaded on to the remote control device or that you'll have to use green, yellow and red buttons. Green button is a vote for. The yellow button is for abstention. The red button is for a vote against after voting the resolutions. This will -- we will declare that the vote is open. At the present time, you can see on the screen a rectangle, which is indicating the number of seconds that you have to vote. When the countdown is over, we will declare that the vote is closed and you can no longer vote. The display of results will be done on the screen a few moments after close of the vote. And finally, thank you. Please switch off your mobile phones during the vote and hand back the devices when you leave the room. Vote on the approval of the company financial statements for 2024. Please vote. [Voting]

Resolution adopted. Resolution 2: Allocation of the results and the dividend -- allocation of the net loss and dividend distribution. [Voting]

Vote Closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution #3, approval of consolidated financial statements for the year ended 2024. Please vote. [Voting]

Votes closed, resolution adopted. Resolution #4, approval of agreements and commitments governed et cetera. Please vote. [Voting]

Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution 5, renewal of the term of office of Olivier Merveilleux Du Vignaux as the member of the Supervisory board, please vote. [Voting]

Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution #6, renewal of the term of office of JCDecauX Holding SAS as the member of the supervisory board. Please vote. [Voting]

Votes closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution #7, approval of the compensation policy for Supervisory Board members. [Voting]

Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution #8, approval of the 2025 compensation policy for the Executive Board members. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution #9, approval of information relating to corporate officer compensation as presented in the corporate governance report. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution 10, approval of compensation benefits paid or awarded for 2024 to Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution #11, approval of compensation benefits paid or awarded in respect of FY '24 to Christophe Bavi re, member of the Executive Board. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote over. Resolution adopted. Resolution 12, approval of compensation benefits paid or awarded in respect of 2024 to William Kadouch-Chassaing, member of the Executive Board. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote over, resolution adopted. Resolution 13, approval of compensation and benefits paid or awarded in respect of FY '24 to Sophie Flak, member of the Executive Board. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote over. Resolution adopted. Resolution 14, approval of compensation and benefits paid in respect of 2024 to Mr. Olivier Millet, member of the Executive Board as well as the terms of termination of his duties. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution #15, authorization of a share buyback program by the company for its own shares. Please vote. [Voting]

Votes closed. Resolution adopted. [Foreign Language] Votes closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution 19. Authorization To the Executive Board to grant free shares to employees and corporate officers of the Company and/or its affiliates. Please vote. [Voting]

Votes closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution 20, delegation of authority to the Executive Board to increase share capital by issuing ordinary shares and/or securities granting access to share capital reserved for members of a company savings plan with cancellation of shareholder preferential subscription rights in their favor. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution 21, amendment of Article 13 of the company's bylaws. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote closed, resolution adopted. Last resolution, powers to carry out formalities. Please vote. [Voting]

Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Thank you.

Thank you, Gabriel. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for attending today's general meeting, which is now over. And I look forward to seeing you again for our general meeting to be held in 2026. And I would like to wish you a very enjoyable day ahead. Thank you. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]