Forvia SE (FRVIA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Before we get into the details of this meeting, let me point out that you will find, on your seats, a headset that will enable you to listen to the translation. Channel 1 is for English, and Channel 2 is for French. We tested it out this morning, and I trust this is working. Dear shareholder, it is my honor to welcome you to this General Annual Meeting. I'm Michel de Rosen, the Chairman of the Board of FORVIA. I have Martin Fischer next to me, who's been the CEO since March. We have our CFO and -- to my left, and Jill Greene, who is the Head of the Legal Department and Secretary of the Board of Directors. I would like to thank you for having come. I would also like to thank the many shareholders who've already exercised their postal voting rights and those who are following the meeting remotely. As you know, this meeting is being broadcast live on our website. It's recorded and made available on a delayed basis. I'd also like to thank the members of the Board of Directors who are present in the room with us today. They are either here in the audience, or they are connected online. And finally, I'd like to thank all those who've prepared this Annual General Meeting. It's always a lot of work, and they made it possible for this to run smoothly and professionally. FORVIA's Annual General Meeting is an essential opportunity to inform and exchange views with our shareholders on critical issues for the group. As you know, 2024 was a year of major challenges for the automotive industry. It was marked by geopolitical tensions, production cuts, questions about the pace of electrification, changing consumer expectations and the growing influence of certain markets, notably, of course, the Chinese market. In spite of this complex international environment, our group, FORVIA, demonstrated its agility, its resilience. The group was able to maintain stable sales. Indeed, it improved its global positioning and implemented its commitment to sustainability. FORVIA recorded a solid, indeed a record year of intakes, particularly in its Asian segments. And this order intake also demonstrates the quality of the relationships we have established with our customers worldwide and our ability to seize growth opportunities, illustrated by our extensive collaboration with major Chinese automakers, both in Asia and abroad. We've also continued to make steady progress in sustainability as evidenced by the ongoing improvement of our ESG assessments. The deployment of a comprehensive action plan to meet our Scope 3 emissions reduction targets and the launch of our Blue Effect program, a collective call to action for sustainability, reflects these efforts. Innovation also remained a key focus for FORVIA. We acquired full ownership of our app marketplace. Now we named Appning, thus strengthening our position in the ecosystem of automotive app and software. Last April, at the Shanghai Auto Show in 2025, we unveiled as many as 9 world first and a broad portfolio of sustainable AI- and software-driven innovations, illustrating FORVIA's vision for enhanced customer-centric mobility experiences. At the same time, the group remains fully committed to restoring a strong balance sheet and reducing its debt. In 2024, we accelerated the execution of key initiatives such as WEST to EAST, ENGAGE and EU-FORWARD, designed to strengthen our competitiveness in a complex environment where speed is of the essence. I am convinced and so is your Board of Directors. We're convinced that these initiatives will play a crucial role in the group's future success. Let us retrace the story of our group by watching the [ following ]. [Presentation]

[Interpreted] That was a good movie. In 2024, a new page was turned to the group with the arrival of a new CEO -- appointed Deputy CEO on December 6, 2024. Martin Fischer took up the position of CEO on March 1, 2025. Martin Fischer has over 25 years' experience in the automotive industry. He was Chairman and CEO of HELLA's Americas' Electronics business, and then he headed the -- in Europe, BorgWarner's turbocharger business -- that's an American company. Before being promoted to Head of its powertrain systems business, he subsequently became a member of ZF Group Executive Committee, known for the Zeppelins, and then he played an active part in the profitable growth of its 4 business areas while overseeing the North and South American regions and being in charge of group quality. Thanks to his experience and expertise in the automotive industry and his links with Europe and the U.S.A., thanks to his experience in Asia and his leadership qualities, Martin has all the qualities required to lead our company, your company. Now as this is his last Annual General Meeting, I'd like to extend my warmest thanks to Patrick Koller for his absolute commitment to the group, his unfailing commitment to your group for almost 10 years. He's guided the company through major strategic changes, leading to the creation of FORVIA, which has become a global technology leader and a pioneer in sustainable mobility. And Patrick is the one who took your group from the 20th to the 21st century. And so I'd also like to thank Patrick for his impeccable professionalism during the last 3 months of his term during the transition phase with Martin Fischer. The Board of Directors unanimously joins me in wishing Patrick all the best for the future. Patrick, you deserve a round of applause. As I was saying for several years, the automotive industry has been facing the most serious crisis in its history. Clearly, our current share price is extremely disappointing and very frustrating for all shareholders as it is for all of us because we're also shareholders. Restoring our financial structure and boosting our performance in a challenging environment are key priorities in our road map, Martin Fischer's road map. And Martin Fischer and his team are focused on creating long-term value for all our stakeholders, will be introduced later on this year. I remain convinced that the market will eventually recognize the value created by your company as well as the relevance of long-term projects to which we committed. It is impossible, of course, to predict the future trajectory of our share price, especially as this industry is and remains under strong pressure. Nonetheless, we all believe that all the company's efforts, those initially initiated, those in progress and those to come will be recognized by the financial markets in the future development of our -- future evolution of our share price. At every level of the FORVIA Group, from the CEO and members of the Executive Committee to operators in our plants, everyone is fighting day after day to innovate, to produce with quality and safety and satisfy customers. In short, getting the job done is a daily struggle for all. I'd like to thank all FORVIA Group employees for their commitment, their resilience, their professionalism, their agility, always palpable and deployed in spite of the rugged context of an industry undergoing profound transformation. I'd like to welcome now a new director who's just left our Board, Nicolas Peter. It's been announced that Nicolas had become Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the BMW Group following the approval of the '25 AGM, Annual General Meeting of BMW. And so for that reason, Nicolas stepped down as a member of the Board of Directors of FORVIA SE. The Board of Directors, through me, would like to warmly thank Nicolas Peter for his outstanding contribution to the Board's work and productive discussions, both in his capacity as Director and member of the Audit Committee. We'll miss him and wish him, of course, all the best for the future. Now to succeed Nicolas Peter and as agreed with the Hueck and Roepke Family pool, the 2 families that are the historic shareholders of HELLA, I would like -- we propose that our shareholders appoint Lutz Meschke to join the Board of Directors of FORVIA SE effective on January 1, 2026, and that is one of the resolutions that will be put to your approval later on. Lutz Meschke is a leader in the automotive -- the global automotive industry with over 25 -- 20 years' experience with the Porsche Group as Chief Financial Officer of Porsche from 2009 to 2025 and Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board from 2015 to 2025. We're confident that he will bring his vast experience and knowledge to our Board. To conclude this introduction, I'd like to thank you, our shareholders, for your trust, your patience and for believing in our vision for FORVIA's long-term value. I'd like to come back to the people in charge here today. I'd like to welcome the members of the Board of Directors who will be speaking alongside me: Denis Mercier, who chairs the Compensation Committee; and Jean-Bernard Lévy, who chairs the Governance Appointments and Sustainable Development Committee. Each will present a report on the key issues addressed by the respective committees. This Combined General Meeting of Shareholders is convened on first notice. This is legalese for you. The legal notices convening the meeting of shareholders were published within the regulatory deadlines. The financial statements, reports and other documents required to be made available to shareholders have been made available in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. And so these documents, rest assured, I'm not going to read them out. They are on the table at the back of the room. For those of you who do want to read them, they are available here also at the front of the room. We'll now appoint the officers. We'll check the quorum and remind you of the meeting's agenda. I note that amongst the shareholders, we have Peugeot 1810 represented by Guillaume Falguière, who's here. And Robert Peugeot himself is there as well. And then we have the mutual fund FCPE/Faur'ESO, and these are employee shareholders represented by Daniel Humbert-Droz also on the front row. Peugeot 1810 and FCPE/Faur'ESO are the shareholders with the largest number of votes, and I checked before that. And they accepted -- they agreed to act as scrutineers. I'd like to thank them. And Frédérine Lodieu, who is out there; and Stéphane Van Kemmel, who is coming in as we speak, and here he comes. At our request, they will be attending this AGM to observe the proceedings and would like to thank you both for your presence. And I suggest that Jill Greene should act as Secretary to the meeting. And I'd like to thank her for -- in keeping with applicable provisions, I shall be chairing the AGM in my capacity as Chairman of the Board of Directors. And I'd like to remind you that on an ordinary basis, the meeting is valid only if 1/5 of the shares with voting rights are either present or represented. 1/5 for ordinary -- for the ordinary part. For the extraordinary part, the shareholders meeting is valid only if 1/4 of the shares entitled to vote are present or represented. Regarding the quorum, we just checked that the FORVIA share capital has 197,089,340 shares. From this number of shares, we must deduct the number of treasury shares held by FORVIA, 547,414 shares, to work out the actual quorum. The number of shares held by shareholders present in this room or represented by proxy or having voted by post or by online, I'll have to go through the numbers because the number was just given. My apologies. There we go. 110,431,335 shares. And so that's 56.25% of the shares with voting rights. And so as you can note, we're above the minimum 20% and 25% quorums required for the validity of deliberation that the ordinary and extraordinary general meeting is convened on first notice. So the quorum has been amply reached. And so therefore, the meeting can validly deliberate. Let me point out that when it comes to ordinary resolutions, the latter will have to be adopted on a simple majority. For the extraordinary session, the resolutions will require a 2/3 majority. I remind you that this meeting is called to vote on the items of the agenda, which was communicated in the notice of the meeting brochure, which was made available to you prior to this meeting. As no changes have been made to this agenda, I do not propose to read it out in full. And so I, therefore, declare the meeting open. I do apologize for this lengthy introduction. But now the meeting is open. So the meeting will cover the following topics. Number one, building on our strengths. That will be Martin Fischer. Number two, financial performance 2024 and the outlook for 2024 (sic) [ 2025 ], and that's Olivier Durand, our CFO. Number three, impulse change, Martin Fischer. Number four, governance and sustainable development, Jean-Bernard Lévy. Number five, the compensation of corporate officers. That will be Denis Mercier. Number six, the statutory auditor's report, both on FORVIA and CSRD by the auditors. And then the Q&A and then finally voting on the resolution. I point out that some of the presentations will be in English. And so that's why the headsets are there. I believe you know all about this. And I'll call on Martin Fischer to introduce the first topic entitled Capitalize on Our Strengths.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Michel. Dear shareholders, first of all, I'd like to express my sincere thanks to Michel de Rosen and the entire Board of Directors for their trust. I'd also like to thank Patrick for ensuring a smooth transition between my arrival on December 6 and my official appointment on the 1st of March. It's a great honor for me to take over the leadership of FORVIA and begin a new chapter in its history. It's an adventure I'm embarking upon with enthusiasm and determination. I'm convinced that we will strengthen our position as a technology leader and indeed accelerate our growth worldwide. A few words about myself. I'm engineering by trade. I grew up in Germany. From a very early age, I've been passionate about technology and cars. And this passion has led me to devote more than 25 years of my career to the automotive industry in Germany, in the United States and in France. This international background has enabled me to understand the global challenges facing the industry today, including the transition to electrification, digitalization and indeed the emergence of new technologies at the heart of our industry's transformation. On a more personal note, I'm married. I have 2 daughters who are studying in the United States. Their curiosity, their ambition and their view of the world make me understand the absolute need to build a sustainable and innovative future for generations to come. Before joining FORVIA, I held management positions in such equipment manufacturers as Siemens, BorgWarner, ZF and HELLA. At HELLA, I led teams in electronic control systems and energy optimization solutions. And so I was familiar with HELLA even before the merger. Beyond innovation, I've always focused on operational excellence at BorgWarner. I oversaw the transition to cleaner and more efficient powertrain solutions. And I also implemented continuous improvement initiatives to strengthen competitiveness at ZF. I led the digital transformation of industrial processes and oversaw projects to improve operational efficiency and quality. And so -- in doing so, I was able to reduce -- to cut costs and increase productivity. These experiences have taught me that in an ever-changing industry, you need to combine technological innovation with operational excellence. And so for FORVIA, this means strengthening our ability to innovate and indeed optimize our operations to ensure sustainable profitability. I'd like now to share the key strengths I have identified at FORVIA and, indeed, the strategy I'm deploying to ensure our performance and seize growth opportunities. I will now switch to English. But I promise to continue making progress in the beautiful language of Molière. So building on our strengths. Coming into FORVIA, I had really the pleasure to engage with many teams in FORVIA and with many of our external stakeholders as well such as customers, business partners and you, the shareholders. I'm really pleased that we can rely on a number of strengths in an environment that is clearly complex, uncertainty and fast changing. I see 3 exciting features that we push forward. It's a solid base of business. It's customer intimacy. And it's our organizational strengths. In the next couple of minutes, I would like to elaborate on all 3 of them. So let's start into the business setup. With EUR 27 billion of global sales in 2024, we belong to the top group of Tier 1 suppliers in the world. We offer a very robust product portfolio over 6 business groups. And 3 of them have been acquired or have been strengthened through the HELLA acquisition in 2022. So it's a very important element of ours. I like to see that already we have leadership positions in most of our activities. And on the slide, you can see the ranks 1 through 3. That's what we strive for, and that's a good guarantee for profitable growth. Furthermore, we can look at a good mix of stable product lines such as seats and interiors -- every car needs them -- and growth products, predominantly in the fields of electronics and software. Last not least, our portfolio is mostly agnostic to powertrain. And it is to be said in recent months -- the recent year, also our ultra-low emissions business has gained a little bit more fresh momentum since the trend of electrification has slowed down. Nevertheless, we expect that is going to be the future in electric driving. We are clearly technology driven. That's the core of the company, and we play all the important trends in the automotive industry right now. Let's start with electrification and energy management, where we provide power electronics solutions and energy management systems. Then we go to safe and automated driving, where we have products for ADAS as well as for intelligent lighting. And the third one on the list is connected and personalized mobility. Michel already referred to our app store, Appning, where we are state-of-the-art, providing more than 200 apps to driver and passengers in vehicles. Also, another example, when you use our most state-of-the-art access systems to vehicles, there is no keys involved anymore. We open cars by cell phone, and that goes with a lot of advanced and cybersecure technology. We are generating all these innovations, both internally and with partners. So I'm proudly heading up an organization with 15,000 engineers distributed over the world in 78 locations. And at the same time, it's very important for us to be open when it comes to innovations. So we do work with smaller partners from universities, startup companies, fintechs, but also with big tech. So Microsoft and Palantir are firm partners of ours when it comes to cloud technology and the use of artificial intelligence. Next, I would like to... [Presentation]

I hope we could convey a little bit of that very energizing moment. Being out there in front of our customers with an excellent team of professionals demonstrating 9 world premieres. And all these innovations are being created around the globe. So there is innovations not only from Europe, but also from the Americas and Asia that we could display there. Next, I would like to update you on our best-in-class sustainability approach. Our ambition of net zero in 2045 remains unchanged, and the sustainability, the efforts that go with it are deeply embedded in the group's processes and in our decision-making. This way, we are a very valuable partner to our customers, and we are an attractive employer at the same time. In fact, FORVIA has been the first French company and the first auto company globally to receive Net-Zero Standard certification in the June of 2022. And our continuous improvement shows in the ratings that we get now from the agencies. So we increased our sustainability rating, both with Moody's and Sustainalytics. We got an A rating from MSCI, and CDP awarded us an A for climate, and we moved from a B to an A- on water utilization and water recycling. So when looking at our achievements in the year 2024, we are ahead of schedule. So the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, we worked down minus 67% versus the baseline in 2019. And on Scope 3, we are continuously improving, and we hit the mark of minus 15% last year. I want to give you examples. How does it look for our customers? What are the products behind? Scope 3 is now in the focus, and we drive design processes to take CO2 out of the product so we help downstream our customers to be in a better CO2 status. On the left-hand side, you see the Renault 5 E-Tech, 2025 Car of the Year, which has plenty of FORVIA content. Amongst that, the seats, both in the front and the rear row. And here, we have been introducing a new material. On some of the vehicles, there is a material that's called Ecorium, and that's substituting traditional leather. It is, in fact, made from recycled plastic and hemp fibers. And with this reutilization and natural ingredients, we can reduce the CO2 by 90% compared to a traditional leather seat. The second example on the right-hand side is about exterior lighting. And here also, we put a lot of emphasis in designing for Scope 3. So we are using lightweight and recycled materials. And then we intelligently control the light intensity, depending on the driving situation and the need for illumination. This way, we can conserve energy, which is particularly good when driving electric vehicles and when sustaining range there, too. This design, furthermore, enables upgrades, repairs and recycling. And with all that, we reach up to 80% CO2 reductions with these most state-of-the-art headlamps, and we can also achieve a 65% rate reduction. That's big. Let's move forward into the customer intimacy. First of all, we enjoy a very balanced geographical mix. On our home turf here in Europe, we have 47% of our business, 26% goes to the Americas and 27% to Asia. It's definitely important to highlight Asia as a growth region, and 21% of the global sales are for China, the automotive market of the times. It is, for us, very important that we provide effective local-for-local services to our customers. And that's true from the engineering times then all the way into production. It's also key that we source our materials locally in the region to overcome any challenges that might arise from geopolitical tensions or the tariffs more lately. Looking through the 3 regions. Europe is pretty flat, still by far lower than the market used to be. We used to sell 21 million new vehicles every year. The market is down to 15 million. We expect that to stay, which, for us, means that we have to adjust our capacities to these realities. And EU-FORWARD is an important initiative to accomplish this. The American market is also under pressure more lately through the tariff, and we expect 14 million to 15 million vehicles only this year. So also there, we have to structurally attain efficiencies, and we are particularly taking care of our Interiors business in North America to solidify its performance and its operational excellence. And last not least, Asia, again, China is a big growth story of FORVIA's. In 2018, we had only 14% of our sales in China that grew to the demonstrated 21% last year. Beyond China, our objective is to also grow India as another big growth place for automotive in the world. Let's dive into FORVIA's customer base. To be noted, it's very well diversified. We serve our customers in 40 countries, and we serve all major OEMs while Volkswagen Group, Stellantis and Ford are our 3 biggest customers. Also here, I want to refer to our China growth. So 10% of our global sales last year came through China and Chinese customers. BYD is leading that list, and BYD is expected this year to become the #5 in the world of automotive globally. So we are happy to be a strong partner with already more than EUR 1 billion in sales last year. Now we follow global extensions of BYD, and we are a supply partner, both in Thailand and in Europe. The second one I want to mention is Chery Group. Also here, Chery is on a growth trajectory, and we signed a strategic partnership last year for the cabin of the future, which means we are the partner of choice of Chery's for seats, interior parts and cockpit electronics. Also here, we pursue the target to grow that account to more than EUR 1 billion of sales a year, and we expect that to happen by 2029. The ultimate proof of customer intimacy is our robust order intake. And just in short, we accumulated EUR 31 billion in new orders from our customers last year. The EUR 11 billion in Europe -- in Asia, excuse me, the EUR 11 billion in Asia underscore our overproportional growth over there. The solid electronics growth displayed by EUR 7 billion here goes across all product groups. That's the growth access that I mentioned before. And then we placed about EUR 16 billion in high-content vehicles. Why is that important to us? Because these high-content vehicles leverage our most innovative solutions and they come from all business groups. So now let's go into the next chapter, which is about the organizational strengths. Coming into FORVIA, I'm truly enjoying our diverse and committed teams. Having representatives of 140 nations on our teams expresses true cultural diversity. I also want to mention our efforts in promoting women in leadership. In 2024, we reached 29% of women among our managers and the skilled professionals. And 27% of our top 300 leaders in the company are women. This is not enough. We push further for that part of diversity. We do it through programs like our RISE program, where we offer female talent leadership education but also personal mentoring and a good network of ambassadors. Second point here is learning. We are evolving so quickly in this industry and in the world. So we need training for our people. The FORVIA University has become a real institution. So we are offering internally both conventional and digital learning opportunities. You can see the numbers of hours per training per employee, 24.5, pretty much last year. So that's expressing that strong endeavor that we are on as a learning organization. The third point I want to highlight here is our commitment to our communities. Hosted by the FORVIA Foundation, we drive initiatives for education, mobility and the environment. And not only do we give money to these charitable purposes, but we engage our employees in driving projects. And we can really admire 75 employee-led projects since its inception. And there's fantastic examples. I want to share those with you. In France, for instance, we helped 320 disabled children, and we supported them with orthopedic equipment and rehabilitation sessions. In India, we created a sustainable green village, and that's all employee initiatives. And last not least, in collaborating with the Maud Fontenoy Foundation and with Plastic Odyssey, we educate the youth, both on marine preservation and plastic pollution. So that's a very noble side here of FORVIA's. So last not least, who am I working with? Who is the organization? What is the organizational strength that I can rely on? So I do witness a really strongly expressed can-do attitude. The organization is open to change, which is very important for me. New in the CEO role, I come in with new ideas, with new initiatives. I need support immediately, and I can rely on that. Accountability is a very high standard in the firm. So there is a performance-based environment. And we also have strong incentive systems in place to motivate the results in all areas, from financial targets to sustainability targets. Last not least, FORVIA has demonstrated execution. Think about, for those who have been joining us for longer, the turnaround of the Seating business. In 2022, we had an operating margin of 2.5%, which now in 2024, reached 20 -- it reached 5%. So it's really a turnaround of that business. That was due, and that was executed. The other one that I enjoy myself very much is the delivery on what the tariff challenge poses to us. The organization has been utmost fast in reacting to this new situation, both localizing more business of suppliers and ourselves, for instance, into the North American region and then also discussing implications with our customers. So a very strong starting point for me. Next up in the agenda, I would like to hand over to our CFO, Olivier Durand, for an overview of the 2024 results and an outlook on 2025. Olivier?

[Interpreted] Thank you, Martin. Thank you, and hello to all of you. I'd like to talk about the performance of your company in 2024, during Q1 2025 as well and then talk about the financial prospect, the forecast. So let's start with our performance in 2024. All indicators are in line with our targets as adjusted to account for the lower production in the second quarter of 2024. Our sales totaled EUR 27 billion, reflecting organic growth of 0.4% compared with 2023 in a market that is down 1.1%. This means that your group outperformed the market by 150 basis points or 1.5 percentage points despite an unfavorable regional mix of 2 percentage points. Against this difficult market backdrop, our operating margin stood at 5.2%, very close to our 2023 target of 5.3%. We significantly improved the performance of a few business lines. Martin mentioned Seating, but also Clean Mobility and Clarion Electronics as well, to a lesser extent. Our net cash flow reached EUR 655 million, above our target of EUR 550 million for the year and in line with our 2023 performance. I'll come back to this in a moment, but this result is mainly due to reduced capital expenditure and inventory reduction. With the additional contribution of 2 asset disposals in the first half of 2024, your group has reduced its debt by almost EUR 400 million during fiscal year 2024. This brought the net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio down to just under 2x as compared with 2.1x a year earlier and 3.1x just after the acquisition of 82% of HELLA's capital in 2022. Let's look at the income statement. We posted a net consolidated -- net -- a consolidated net income of minus EUR 185 million in addition to the slight decline in sales due to the currency and scope effects and in operating income. The change in net income was due to 3 factors. First, the [ EUR 181 million ] increase in restructuring costs linked to the rapid ramp-up of our EU-FORWARD project, which aims to restore the group's competitiveness in Europe, is penalized by the lasting decline in production volumes. Secondly, we posted capital gains on disposal carried out in 2024, but these were lower than those obtained on disposals carried out in the previous year. Finally, net income was also penalized, compromised by a significant rise in nonrecurring expenses, such as the settlement of the dispute with a Mexico-based supplier in the beginning of last year. Let's cover the cash flow and net cash flow for 2024. As I stated it, this was EUR 655 million, about the same level as last year, but is composed of more recurring factors and of a higher quality than last year. The reduction in tangible investments contributed nearly EUR 170 million to this performance and represents a major step forward in the trajectory of CapEx and capitalized R&D cost reduction. Contribution from working capital was largely driven by the reduction in inventories, which, for the most part, resulted from the sale of tooling for production startups. It was at the end of 2024 -- beginning of 2024, and yet inventories are still above EUR 2.5 billion to 40 days at the end of 2024 and should remain for 2025. A cash-generating reservoir also will help us optimize our performance. I'd like to note the slight increase of EUR 35 million of our financial costs in 2024 -- sorry, not 2025. This corresponds to the cost of buying back certain bond issues as part of the active management of our debt maturities. Lastly, performance last year was weighed down by a number of nonrecurring items, which, by their nature, will not recur in 2025. So your group reduced its debt by -- from EUR 7 billion to EUR 6.6 billion at the end of 2024. This brings the amount of net debt reduced since the acquisition of HELLA to EUR 1.8 billion. Reducing financial leverage and the absolute amount of debt are and remain your group's top priority. In 2024, as in the first quarter of 2025, we were very proactive in refinancing our bond and bank maturities. In 15 months, we have issued more than EUR 3.5 billion in debt to 2029 and beyond, diversifying our sources of financing, including our first issue on the U.S. bond market, which is the world's largest. This took place in March 2025. This has enabled us to extend our maturities and push back our next significant maturities to 2027. Coupled with a solid level of liquidity, this gives us the flexibility we need to manage our financial obligations in the current environment. Let's turn to 2025. Your group has made a good start of the year. Sales totaled EUR 6.7 billion in the first quarter, accounting for an organic growth of 2.1%. This growth was driven by Asia, organic growth of 5.8%, and Europe with more than 3.9%. Electronics and Seating were the driving forces, with sales up by 12.2% and 8.2%, respectively. As you know, tariffs placed by the U.S. administration pose new risks for the auto industry. Your group has taken swift steps to meet these challenges. Production is highly regional, so direct exposure to rising tariffs is rather limited. To neutralize the impact of tariffs on its residual exposure, so flows between Mexico and U.S., FORVIA quickly took action on the supply chain and entered into negotiations with its customers. Today, all of these initiatives have neutralized more than 80% of the impact. And of course, we continue to aim to cover, by the end of the year, all of the risk. FORVIA also preempted the indirect impact of these taxes, i.e., the impact on global production volumes to the U.S. market by taking measures to make its production cost more flexible, by cutting its budgets for operating expenses, such as travel and marketing costs, and by freezing new recruitment. Finally, we identified additional measures to reduce investment in certain nonpriority activities to protect cash flow generation. These initiatives enables us to confirm our 2025 objectives. These include sales between EUR 26.3 billion and EUR 27.5 billion, an operating margin between 5.2% and 6% of sales. Recall that we were at 5.2% in 2024. Net cash flow, at least equal to that of last year. And a reduction in net debt-over-adjusted EBITDA leverage to 1.8x or less by the end of 2025. Finally, FORVIA continues to make progress on the divestment front and remains fully committed to restoring a strong balance sheet and, hence, reducing its net debt-over-adjusted EBITDA ratio to below 1.5x by the end of 2026. This concludes my presentation, and I now hand it over back to Martin. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Olivier. Driving change. We've looked in the short term. Now we really have to see how we drive the company forward. In the short term, there is the one priority that we pursue as a leadership team and with all associates of FORVIA, and that is deleveraging the company. This works through financial performance, asset divestitures and adjusting our operating model. So let me briefly comment on the financial performance. This goes with really an utmost disciplined cost management that we have instructed our teams to pursue. We are fixing underperforming platforms. And here again, I want to point out that our Interiors business in North America needs that fixing. And we continue to run our competitiveness programs, notably EU-FORWARD and ENGAGE. The last point that we are also processing is we adjust our investments to the speed of the market. So when we have activities like hydrogen, where the market does not move as quickly as we still assume 2 to 3 years ago, we are adjusting our efforts to these new realities. Point number two, the disposal programs. They are in process for sizable parts of our business, for sizable parts of the company. And last not least, the operating model. We are simplifying the organizational structure in order to have a clearly expressed profit and loss responsibility along the chain of command, and we go for streamlined decision-making. I look forward to announcing what precisely we do during our H1 investors call. So that deleveraging as the first priority is going to yield us as well the freedom that we need for strategic structuring the company in a transforming environment. In order to define now the longer-term strategy of FORVIA's years, it is important to understand the global business environment. Well, there's geopolitical developments and trade tensions that put immediate stress on the automotive and the automotive supply base. We work on regionalization and compensation measures. Climate change is a threat to the world. We are highly committed to sustainability. AI is entering all areas of the business. We embrace AI, both for our products and for our processes. So the way we are dealing with these trends is really through a lot of anticipation, thinking and working in scenarios and being agile. This is most important to be able to react to also the little unforeseen things. When we now dive deeper into the automotive industry, here's the trends. We certainly observe very contrast regional dynamics, and we have talked about it this morning already, which also leads to a more fragmented OEM landscape, predominantly driven by new players from China. We see technological disruption, and we do see increased competition, both for vehicle makers and suppliers. So how do we react to that? First of all, we do pursue our customer and regional diversification. We want to be there where the market is and where the growth is. The emerging technologies, we see as an opportunity. We are strong in electronics. We are strong in software. So we can nurture these businesses and really benefit from those technology trends. The third one is I'm definitely convinced we want to lead, we have to lead in those areas that we do business in. So competitiveness is key and working always through innovations and operational excellence into leading positions for all businesses that we cover. And once more, agility and speed matters so much for us at FORVIA these days. So with my start, we have defined 3 strategic priorities to build long-term momentum. It's about best-in-class performance, the continued business transformation and invigorating our culture. First of all, let's say, performance comes natural to me. It's one of my personal motives in life, and I'm very happy to share that with the organization. So we are running excellence approaches to make FORVIA a well-oiled machine in all of our processes, and that's a clear prerequisite for financial performance. All this is fueled by good innovation, both in product and in processes. When it comes to transformation, we are right now defining our future portfolio. So again, it's characterized by strong leadership positions and long-term competitive advantages. We will announce today for the Capital Markets Day with our earnings call in July, and during that Capital Markets Day, that's when we are going to explain the comprehensive strategy to you, our shareholders. And last not least, invigorating culture. Again, we need momentum on the people side, and there's 3 characteristics that I consider so important for FORVIA to be successful. It's about accountability and empowerment of our leaders and teams, and it's also about recognition of the performance being delivered by our global teams. This wave is going to go across the whole FORVIA Group, including HELLA, to deliver the One FORVIA culture. So in summary, we are developing and implementing a sustainable value creation strategy. It is based on solid technology and is with long-term competitive advantages. And this, in turn, will drive our and your shareholder returns. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. And with this, Michel, I would like to hand back to you.

[Interpreted] Well, thank you. We'll switch back to French, and thank you so much, Martin and Olivier, for these comprehensive presentations, which will enable our shareholders better to understand the immediate priorities of this group. And now I'll call on Jean-Bernard Lévy, who is Head of the Appointments, Governance and Sustainable Development Committee, to tell us about the CSR initiatives that were conducted by his committee and chaired by Jean-Bernard.

[Interpreted] Thank you, sir. And good morning, shareholders. Let me tell you about governance, appointments and a few illustrations in terms of sustainable development. Regarding governance, your Board includes 14 directors, including 2 directors representing employees, including 5 women, women accounting for 42% of the lot. We have 5 nationalities. We have diversified competencies so as to provide FORVIA with what the Board needs in terms of experience and expertise on the Board, and we have 83% of independent Board members in 2024. The Board and its committee met 34 times, 34 meetings. The makeup of the Board may change and should change after today's AGM. And so because shareholders will be asked to vote on appointments that you find on the right-hand side of the slide. And so of course, the first appointment for your approval is that of Martin Fischer as a CEO, who will now be a new Board member to replace Patrick Koller. That will complete the transition that started in March. So we'll have not just a full-blown CEO but a full-blown Board member. No need to return to Martin's introduction. He introduced himself earlier. The second proposal is to renew Penelope "Penny" Herscher as an independent Board member. She, of course, is based in California. She attends Board meetings, and of course, she's been with the Board since 2017. I believe all Board members will be delighted to see her term renewed likewise with Valérie Landon, sitting right here. And she's also an independent Board member, and she's also been a Board member since 2017. If you should decide so, she will be a member of the Audit Committee, and Penny will remain a member of the Governance, Appointments and Sustainable Development Committee. We also propose to renew Peugeot 1810 as a Board member. The permanent representative of the Peugeot company is none other than Robert Peugeot himself. And of course, should you vote this renewal, then Robert should remain a member of the Appointment and Sustainability Committee. And there's a new member, Lutz Meschke. We also proposed to appoint him as an independent Board member, and we thought we should show you a little video where he introduced him...

Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. My name is Lutz Meschke, and I'm pleased to introduce myself as a candidate for the Board of Directors of FORVIA, bringing over 3 decades of extensive experience in business administration, financial and strategic management. After completing my studies in Business Administration at University of Cologne, I started my professional career in 1991 with KPMG [indiscernible] in Düsseldorf and later in Milan as an auditor and adviser. In 1999, I transitioned into a corporate role in the fashion industry and took on the role as Head of Group Reporting at Hugo Boss, overseeing controlling and accounting. In 2001, I decided to enter the fast lane and join Porsche AG as Head of Accounting and, later, Controlling. In 2009, I was appointed Chief Financial Officer, and from 2015, I also served as Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board. A significant highlight of my career was leading the landmark IPO of Porsche AG in 2022 as CFO. In February 2025, I agreed with the Supervisory Board to resign from my Board mandate at Porsche AG. Since July 2020, I have been a member of the Board of Management of Porsche Automobile Holding SE, responsible for investment management. Throughout my professional career, especially in the automotive sector, I have been involved in numerous M&A deals, further enhancing my expertise in financial management and strategic planning. My extensive experience and my guiding values align with the strategic vision, discipline and the long-term perspective required for a Board member. Being married and a father of 6 children has instilled in me a strong sense of commitment and responsibility, qualities that I bring to both my professional and personal life. If chosen and entrusted by the shareholders, I will bring my full dedication to the company, committed to contributing to its continued success and growth. Thank you for your time and consideration.

[Interpreted] And so Lutz Meschke has introduced himself -- has just introduced himself. And so if you decide to appoint him, he will be a member of the Board. You have 3 permanent committees from the Board, each chaired by an independent Board member: the Audit Committee, which met 9 times in 2024, chaired by Esther Gaide, who is here; the Compensation Committee, who -- headed by Denis Mercier, they met 7 times in 2024. And you note that the attendance rate of directors on this committee is 100%. And you have the list of the directors that sit on these committees that were there in 2024. And so the -- there will be new Board members after you have voted on the expected appointments. And so this is what the Board should look like should you vote in favor. You have a number again of independent directors, 10 out of 12 are independent. And by definition, employee representatives are not included in that calculation. Two words about the Governance Committee per se. So it met 7 times. Many issues addressed in 2024 were preparations of Chapter 4. That's on corporate social responsibility in Chapter 4 of the 2024 URD, a few words -- review, rather, of the group's CSR strategy and an update of the road map, the CSR road map. And Martin gives you some of the key figures that were achieved under the stewardship of Patrick Koller, enabling FORVIA to stand as one of the best in class in the automotive industry in terms of social responsibility and carbon emissions. Regarding external relations and everything we do in terms of diversity, we have also been exemplary. We've also been working hard and together with the audit committee to monitor the implementation of our road map. So in 2025, we produced our first CSRD report. You may remember this is a European directive. The idea there is to harmonize sustainability, governance and environmental reports. And so the Governance and Appointments Committee looked after Patrick Koller's succession and, indeed, the arrival of Martin Fischer so as to come up with the best possible recommendation for the Board of Directors. Of course, they have a say on that. A few words of CSRD. What does that stand for? Well, it's a sustainable reporting directive. It's a European directive, which is -- has been in force since January 2024. And so this brings about new obligations, new requirements for nonfinancial criteria to promote sustainable development in big companies and enable people to make their own judgment, using harmonized indicators, on the quality of the work being conducted in European companies. And so this comes after the directive on nonfinancial reporting, getting back to 1994. So this has new requirements. You have a number of -- you have 4 categories, 11 subcategories known as ESRS standards. This applies to all companies. Many of you probably know that it has been discussed not to apply this to medium-sized companies. But unfortunately, for such big companies as FORVIA, this will be an obligation for the coming years. And looking at the subcategories, many as cross-cutting standards, the 9 other standards come under the various chapters: corporate, social and governance. Right. I'll give you -- I'll give the floor back to our Chairman.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Jean-Bernard. I'll call on Denis Mercier, who chairs the Compensation Committee, to give us information on the compensation of corporate officers.

[Interpreted] Good morning, shareholders. And thank you, Michel. On compensation, we have 6 resolutions: resolutions 14 to 19. Resolution 14 is on the compensation paid to corporate officers in the year completed, so to the Chairman of the Board, the CEO and indeed directors. The compensation of each corporate officer will come under a specific resolution. For the compensation of the Chairman of the Board, what is being proposed is to -- for the year 2024 to be in line with the compensation policy that was voted at the AGM of 2024 and to pursue the selfsame policy in 2025 as approved by the AGM of 2024, i.e., an amount of EUR 400,000, not including benefits in kind. Regarding Board members, Board members, for the year 2024 and EUR 1.2 million, and that's the total amount. That is the amount for all Board members. And that's because -- we used up that budget because there were additional meetings because of Patrick Koller's successions and also the new work on CSRD requirements. It is also being proposed to continue the selfsame budget for the year 2025. Regarding the CEO, there was resolution #16 on the total compensation and benefits in kind paid out in the year 2024 or indeed granted for the same year to Patrick Koller in his capacity as CEO. The amount paid for the year 2024 ex post includes as follows: a fixed compensation of EUR 1.1 million, unchanged compared to last year. There's a short-term annual variable compensation, which is EUR 1.161875 million down compared to the previous year. Variable long-term compensation as performance shares, the compensation package for the CEO is strongly correlated to the group's performance, as you can see, with the changes over time, and we are very much committed to that, to have -- for the CEO to have as it was skin in the game. Regarding the policy -- compensation policy approved by the 2024 AGM allowed FORVIA to pay Patrick Koller, should he step down as a CEO, at FORVIA's initiative, a severance pay equal to twice the fixed amount plus the variable compensation for the 12 months prior to the dismissal, provided that performance criteria were met. The Board of Directors found that the performance criteria for the severance pay have been entirely met and so that, therefore, Patrick Koller could have the full severance pay of EUR 5,765,000, subject to approval by the AGM. For ex ante, we decided to have a pro rata of the performance shares not acquired at the time of his dismissal. Since the dismissal takes effect on 25 February 2025, there will be a fixed compensation for the first 2 months on a pro rata basis from 1st January to 28th February 2025, but there will be no variable annual compensation nor there will be any long-term compensation or additional pension points for defined contributions -- or rather, defined benefits for the extra period. For the CEO, for the ex ante period, and that applies to Martin Fischer, the Board of Directors decided to change the compensation policy as of March 1, 2025, to adjust to Martin Fischer's specific situation because he's a what we call inpat U.S. citizen. And so we -- the compensation package will be in line with the company's performance. So the Board of Directors reviewed downwards the annual fixed package of EUR 1.1 million to -- from EUR 1.1 million to EUR 1 million, but that annual fixed compensation includes EUR 100,000 in inpat bonus. The -- there's a long-term variable compensation and other variable items listed in the universal registration document for '24. The pension funds with defined contributions under Article 82 replaces the defined benefits pension plans that applied until now. The company's financial contribution to that new pension scheme will be, in fact, very much like the previous defined benefits plan. This will -- only applies for the year 2025. We have -- this is a special -- well, this is to compensate for the benefits that Martin Fischer had previously. Now that will be subject to criteria -- performance criteria. The first part will be paid out in 2026, the second half in 2027, subject to approval of the AGM in 2026 and 2027. Martin Fischer will have benefits in kind granted by the company. There will be a car, international medical coverage and the usual settling subsidy. That completes the compensation part. Thank you. I'll now give the floor back to the Chairman of the Board.

[Interpreted] Well, thank you for this very comprehensive presentation. I will call on our auditors, Guillaume Brunet-Moret from EY Audit and Anne-Laure Rousselou from Forvis Mazars. They will give their reports as prepared for this AGM.

[Interpreted] Thank you. Dear shareholders, on...

[Interpreted] You speak on behalf of...

[Interpreted] No, no, I will look at the financial part, and my colleague here will look at the nonfinancial aspects. And so on behalf of the Board, the auditors represented by EY and Forvis, this is our report for the financial statements for 2024. We have 2 reports, an audit on the statutory financial statements of FORVIA SE: one report on the consolidated statements of FORVIA Group, one report on related party agreements; and 5 reports about resolutions from 21 to 30 in the extraordinary part of the AGM. These reports were made available to you. So let's go through the highlights. Let's go through the resolutions, which you will be asked to vote on as part of the AGM. Regarding the first report on the statutory financial statements prepared according to French accounting standards, we felt that as a key point of -- we looked at redeemable shares as a key item. We certified these reports, these accounts without reservations. Regarding the consolidated financial statements of FORVIA, the latter were prepared according to the IFRS standards as approved by the European Union, and there again, we certified these accounts without observations or reservations. The key items of the audit are in line with those of previous year, and they concern the recoverable value of goodwill amortization. On goodwill, the recoverable value of development costs and the recognition of deferred tax assets. Regarding the -- both the statutory financial statement, consolidated statements, we went through -- we ensured that the electronic format version unlike -- under the rules of 18 December 2018, of the European Union were complied with in any case. Regarding 2 related party agreements, there were new such agreements outside of -- with HELLA, one on a licensing agreement and another one on a collaboration agreement over and beyond the conversion of 2022. That was approved by the AGM of 2023. That's on the AGM. For the extraordinary part, and these are the 5 additional reports that were published for the following: resolutions from 21 to 25 on the proposal for the Board of Directors to issue shares and/or marketable securities with or without cancellation of preferential subscription rights; and resolution 27 on the authorization to grant free existing shares or shares to be issued; resolution 28 on the issue of ordinary shares and/or securities carrying rights to the share capital and reserved for members of company savings plan; on resolution 29 on the issue of shares and other securities giving access to the share capital of the company with cancellation of the shareholders' preferential subscription rights; and then resolution 30 on a potential -- possible capital reduction. We have no comments about such operations, which come under the conditions of the Code of Commerce. Thank you, and now I'll give the floor to my colleague on nonfinancial reports.

[Interpreted] Well, thank you, Guillaume. And so on behalf of Ernst & Young Audit and Forvis Mazars, it is my honor to introduce our report on the first review of the state of sustainability for the year 2024. Let me just summarize this report, which was made available by the company and which you will find in the universal registration document 2024. Regarding the state of sustainability, the report has 3 parts, and we have limited assurances under CSRD. The items we looked at is the issue of double materiality, ESRS E1 on climate change, ESRS S1 on company employees and the alignment of what we call eligible activities. In summary, we find -- we found no mistakes, no emissions or no inconsistencies regarding the compliance of the process, regarding information on sustainability, as regards ESRS or indeed the compliance with taxonomy regulation that we present without reservation, without changing our conclusions. We do call your attention to information under -- in paragraph 3.1, which is the state -- base of preparation for sustainability for the year 2024, which lists the specificities due to the first -- the fact that this is the first year of implementation. And second, the positions taken by FORVIA on taxonomy, underlying the fact that there are several interpretations regarding the applicability of these criteria to the automotive industry and the alignment criteria. Thank you for your attention.

[Interpreted] Well, I would like to thank the auditors for these presentations, and I can only salute their positive approach, but I would like to also say thank you to Ernst & Young, whose contract comes to an end today. I would like to thank them for their very professional, rigorous and careful support they have extended to our company. We will move on to the next part of this AGM. We have received questions in writing from our shareholders and more specifically, the company's Wakeland Securities MPs (sic) [ Wakeland Securities L.P. ] and Wakefield Securities LLC. They passed on as many as 9 questions in writing to our company. And in keeping with legal and regulatory provisions, the Board of Directors met prior to the AGM so as to provide answers to these questions. And so the questions will be made available on the company's website after the AGM, both in French and in English. So as to be completely transparent with our shareholders, both in line and those in the room, we'll read out the questions and the answers. And so without further ado, I'll give the floor to Jill Greene, who is Head of the Legal Department, and she will provide the answers of the Board to the 9 questions. Since the questions were put in English, she will also answer them in English just as well because her French -- her English is better still than her French. As we said earlier on, there will be a French version on the website -- on the company's website after this session. Jill, take it away.

Question one received. We understand that HELLA is not yet fully integrated into the FORVIA Group. Could you please specify how the EUR 334 million of synergies have been realized to date? What is the breakdown of such synergies between FORVIA and HELLA and by function, e.g., procurement, production, IT, R&D.? And are there legal risks to FORVIA and HELLA associated with the realization of these synergies? What is the total euro million synergy potential in a full integration of HELLA scenario? And the answer. Cumulative synergies between FORVIA/Faurecia and HELLA have reached EUR 334 million as of year-end 2024. The pace and scale of these synergies have outpaced FORVIA's initial expectations, which is why the synergy target has been increased to EUR 400 million by leveraging on additional initiatives, notably in the fields of purchasing and operations. In procurement, synergies totaling EUR 205 million were achieved, with FORVIA accounting for around 24%. In operations, synergies amounted to EUR 74 million, with Faurecia contributing about 30%. The group's global business services division realized EUR 23 million in synergies, with Faurecia accounting for 62%. In IT, synergies of EUR 12 million were achieved, half of which is attributable to Faurecia. Forvia's long-term expectation remains a 50-50 distribution of synergies between Faurecia and Hella. Transactions between Hella and Forvia Faurecia are carried out at arm's length under preestablished guidelines and frameworks and at all times in compliance with applicable laws and regulations as well as higher corporate government standards in consideration of Forvia's shareholders' interests. Question 2. In the 2024 financial results press release, Forvia announced that the group has 2 fully undrawn facilities for approximately EUR 2 billion. EUR 1.5 billion from a Forvia senior credit facility and EUR 450 million from a Forvia Hella senior credit facility. Is there a cash pooling arrangement between Forvia and Hella or have intercompany loans been entered into? If not, how will Forvia be in a position to also use the EUR 450 million Hella senior credit facility? Can Forvia also use other cash or liquidity available at Hella? Our answer. There is currently no cash pooling arrangement between Forvia and Hella nor are there any intercompany loans between the 2 companies? Forvia and Forvia Hella financial facilities are structured separately in accordance with applicable laws and regulations applicable to Forvia and Hella, as well as highest court governance standards that Forvia promotes. Question number 3. How does Forvia plan to address risks of further credit rating downgrades by the rating agencies and could full integration of Hella help mitigate such risks? If so, what could the million euro financing benefit be from the full integration with Hella? And our answer. Forvia does not comment on hypothetical actions of rating agencies. Forvia's top priority, as we mentioned before, is deleveraging. Since the acquisition of Hella, Forvia has reduced its debt by EUR 1.8 billion and its leverage ratio from 3.1x to 2.0x. Forvia's objectives in this respect are organic, deleveraging this year to get to 1.8x and to restore its balance sheet structure by the end of 2026 with a leverage below 1.5x supported by organic performance and sizable disposals. Cost reduction efforts such as EU-FORWARD do also support Forvia's deleveraging. The cost savings from these programs as well as continued increases in the synergies between Forvia and Hella which have been achieved ahead of expectations, will help Forvia achieve its deleveraging goals and manage its balance sheet and credit rating risk. Next question 4. Is the EUR 1 billion second disposal program still expected to be finalized by the end of 2025 as indicated in April 2024? If so, how do you expect to finalize the EUR 1 billion disposal program by the end of 2025? Please specify which amount of disposals is contemplated at the Forvia level and at the Hella Group, respectively? And our answer. Forvia does not comment on any specifics related to unannounced corporate actions, such as specific businesses that might be included in potential disposals. Forvia has updated its deleveraging objectives in the context of the 2024 annual results presentation in February 2025. Forvia is focused on sizable disposals at proper conditions. The company, therefore, communicated that the deleveraging will be organic this year and we'll get Forvia to a leverage ratio of 1.8x. Subject to market conditions, the sizable disposals will be cashed in, in 2026, leading to a restored balance sheet structure by the end of 2026, with a leverage ratio below 1.5x. Processes are ongoing in this direction. Regarding Hella, please note that Hella is a separate legal entity from Forvia, with its own governance, structure and procedures which cover its own M&A activities. Question #5. German Press reported recently that Hella plans a potential disposal of its life cycle solutions business to meet Forvia's deleveraging targets. Sub point one, please explain the relevance of life cycle solutions for Forvia and Forvia's preference, whether to sell or keep the business unit? Sub point two, if that sale is in the interest of Forvia, how can Forvia enforce it? Does Forvia Board or Group Executive Committee have a say here? Sub point three, if the sale of life cycle solutions were to proceed, how would Forvia access those proceeds sitting at the Hella level? Would Forvia expect this potential Hella business unit sale to meet the outstanding 3/4 of the EUR 1 billion disposal target for Forvia. And our answer. As a matter of policy, Forvia does not comment on rumors. Hella is a separate legal entity from Forvia, as I mentioned before, with separate governance. While Forvia communicates with Hella regularly regarding its views as a shareholder and Forvia representatives sit on the Shareholder Committee of Hella, any decision to sell Hella assets would be made in accordance with Hella's governance structure and procedures pursuant to applicable laws and regulations. As a general principle, Forvia as a shareholder of Hella supports the actions of management of Hella that are in the best interest of Hella and Hella's shareholders. Question number 6. On the 23rd of September 2024, Forvia and Hella entered into sub-1, a trademark license agreement relating to the joint use of the umbrella brand, Forvia and the slogan, Inspiring Mobility. Sub-2, a collaboration agreement establishing the framework for conducting the joint advanced pricing procedure, APA with the competent tax authorities. Please provide the contemplated financial conditions of the trademark license agreement subject to the APA procedure. And our answer. The trademark license agreement entered into on September 23, 2024, between Forvia and Hella, provides that until the date on which German and French authorities have agreed on the APA, the license under the trademark license agreement is granted with no royalty to be paid or invoiced. The approach that the authorities shall deem appropriate under the APAs shall apply retroactively as of July 1, 2024. Thus, the parties will apply the approach deemed appropriate by the German and French authorities and will be bound by the terms of the APA for the financial conditions of the trademark license agreement. This approach ensures compliance with applicable laws and regulations, in particular, tax regulations and provides a structured framework for financial management related to the use of the Forvia brand. Question 7. Forvia indicates on its website that no royalty shall be charged until the APA, advanced pricing agreement process with the tax authorities is completed. What happens after the APA process is completed? Sub-1, will the financial conditions be applied retroactively, if so, back to 2022? Sub-2, what payment obligations or earnings in euro does Forvia expect in case the tax authorities do not accept royalties suggested in the APA? And our answer. The financial conditions post APA completion, including potential retroactive application and payment obligations will depend on the outcomes of the negotiations with the tax authorities. If adjustments are mandated to Forvia or Hella, they will be applied retroactively, as I said, to July 1, 2024. Question 8. How are the financial conditions of the trademark license agreement and cooperation agreement entered into between Forvia and Hella determined? Has a study been conducted by a consultant? Sub-1, if yes, what are the conclusions of such study? In case that Forvia does not receive any royalties under the trademark license agreement as it seems to have happened in the past, please explain what benefit Forvia receives and how Forvia does such value benefit? Sub 2, if no, how did the company come to the conclusion that the financial conditions of the trademark license agreement and the cooperation agreement are appropriate? And our answer. Both the trademark license agreement and the cooperation agreement were entered into following Forvia's thorough assessment of their interest to Forvia after careful process, including Board level and shareholder meetings in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations with respect to the related party transactions of each company. A study was conducted by consultant, Landor and Fitch at the direction of Hella regarding the use of the Hella brand as well as the regular assessments made by Forvia with respect to its own branding. Forvia came to the conclusion that entering into the trademark license agreement was in its interest because of the benefit it provides the group in promoting the brands under its scope in new markets and business areas, leading to the creation of a common identity within the group and strengthening the feeling for employees that they belong to one in the same group. Forvia also took into consideration the appropriate and necessary tax considerations, which is in part the reasoning to conclude the APA process in front of both the French and the German taxing authorities. Forvia found this to be advisable to seek the taxing authorities view as well as have the advantage of getting a neutral viewpoint on the methodology for assessing any adjustment to the brand pricing. Similarly, the cooperation agreement followed the highest standards of corporate governance, including Board level and shareholders' meetings in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations with respect to related party transactions. Forvia benefits from exploring the advanced pricing agreement procedure with competent tax authorities as an optimizing tool for management of royalties under the trademark license agreement. All of this serves the broader purpose of creating a common identity within the group and strengthening the feeling for employees to belong to one in the same group. Finally, question 9. Please explain why Hella was authorized under a letter agreement to use the umbrella name, Forvia, in the motto, Inspiring Mobility, and the intellectual property rights relating thereto for free, between April 2022 and September 2024? How did the management of Forvia come to the conclusion that the absence of any consideration by Hella for the use of the Forvia name or motto and the intellectual property rights is appropriate for Forvia? What was the benefit for Forvia under this letter agreement? Please specify the value in euro per year? What is the financial risk for Forvia? Are there scenarios in which Frovia might be obligated to make payment to Hella? And our answer. The cooperation between Hella and Forvia with respect to the use of brands has been designed to maximize cross-market penetration of each brand. Hella benefits from the use of Forvia brand in markets and business areas, where it did not have a legacy presence. In return, Forvia benefits from the value increase and promotion of its brand by Hella in the new markets and business areas. Forvia brand was introduced recently, and as such, management has favored maximizing brand penetration in line with the group's expansion strategy. This strategy was -- I almost made it -- this strategy was implemented in partnership with Hella and following negotiation on arm's length basis and after a thorough assessment. With this, all written questions that were provided in advance have been answered.

Thank you for this marathon of questions. As you understood, surely all the questions that were sent last week to us, they were very accurate. So we took great pains to provide minute answers and subject them to the approval of the Board that met extraordinarily -- on an extraordinary basis, Sunday. We'll switch now. We'll move now to the second part of the Q&A. That is to better manage the time constraints for question and answers and to facilitate the flow end of exchanges. We made forms available at the entrance to the room for you to be able to submit your questions. We've collected these forms during the proceedings. We will begin by answering the questions that you submitted to us. Jill do we have the aforementioned questions?

Several subparts. We have 6 in advance. So I suggest that you answer the first 4, and then we will move to the next one by one.

I'll start to read my reading. First question, [indiscernible] through the form. When will you give us more details on Forvia's strategy? Two, what is Forvia's plan regarding minority shareholders of Hella? Three, explain the justification of granting 2 extraordinary compensations to Mr. Fischer? Four, could you explain why you paid compensations to Mr. Patrick Koller? These are the 4 first questions. Continuing in French, if you'll agree, and we'll answer one by one. Martin, the first question is for you.

First speaking in English, but [indiscernible] in French, but I'd rather not. Announced and explain our full strategy for Forvia. This is going to happen doing an upcoming Capital Markets Day. And the date for that day, we are going to announce with the first half results. So I already want to invite you to our investors call in July, the date has been published already. So 2025 is a very crucial year for Forvia in transition and we need some time to review comprehensively and deeply the market environment. We are looking at the evolution, and we are looking at geopolitics, the regulations, the technology changes, the competition and finally, also the strategies of our customers. And all this is taken into account for defining our future core for our future strategies. So we are developing, in fact, a very comprehensive strategy for the whole group, and that will include portfolio with all its elements, technology, organizational changes, financial guardrails and some others. So stay tuned and please see us for the half one results as well as for the Capital Markets Day.

So Martin, the second question is for you as well, which is Forvia's plan regarding minority, Hella's minority shareholders?

We expressed that a couple of times today, deleveraging is our top priority. And we do not need to own 100% of Hella in order to work and collaborate with Hella. In fact, we have reached a very stable way of doing so. So furthermore, we regularly assess the options to help us achieve our deleveraging trajectory bearing in mind really the best interest of you, our shareholders.

The third question. Could you explain how you justify the 2 extraordinary compensations granted to Mr. Fischer? So the answer. Martin Fischer was eligible for 2 bonuses when he entered in [indiscernible] post their conditioned on strict performance criteria, and they compensate the gap with the previous package -- compensation package in ZF. The fourth question is for me as well. Could you tell us why you paid compensations to Mr. Patrick Koller? The company fully went by applicable laws and bylaws and AFEP-MEDEF Codes, the revocation dismissal of Patrick Koller was planned. Initially, we agreed that the departure, the dismissal of Patrick Koller would take place in mid-2026. To [kidnap], if I may say, Martin Fischer, we had to adjust the time line that was agreed to previously and in French law, we had to proceed to a revocation. The performance of Martin Kellogg is not in question. It is attested by the percentage points. As you know, for the past few years, the compensation was, therefore, applied by the rules. The Board took into account the return of shareholders in 2025 and applied a pro rata basis to the compensation of Patrick Koller, the compensation policy approved in 2024 and in previous years was fully applied. So those were the 4 questions that were read out. Question 5. In the press statement on financial results 2024, Forvia announced that it is on target for our results of EUR 450 million in net synergies as previously calculated. How do these amounts -- will these amounts be attained? Could you please explain? I'm trying to read off of the screen. Could you explain how the rise in synergies realized in '24 had an impact on the cash results and if there are costs linked with it? I'm almost done. What is the distribution of synergies between Hella and Forvia?And what are the benefits from Hella to Forvia? What is the date for the realization of the synergies?

Thank you, Michel. First item, as previously stated, we realized EUR 334 accumulated synergies by the end of 2024. Components to these synergies are mainly due to purchases by combining the volumes of both companies to drive the best purchasing conditions, cost or condition of payments, and the pooling of back-office functions, especially when it comes to shared service centers, IT and procurement. Synergies that will allow us to reach at least EUR 400 million are in the same nature of those that took place previously. We're on target. And since the beginning of the integration, we have been ahead of schedule. And when it comes to the amounts of synergies, this is why we revised up the synergies compared to previous year. When it comes to the cost of restructuring linked with these operations, the costs are low. For purchases, this is -- there are no costs and this is a sizable part of synergies. And for back offices, the costs are limited. There were about EUR 12 million in 2024 to give you a rough idea. When it comes to the distribution in the income statement, purchases again are on a variable margin basis, and this helps us compensate the high rates of inflation in these past few years and for other functions or other units, it's mostly in terms of ad expenses or AG&A. When it comes to the distribution between the 2 companies, the distribution goes by the origin of these expenditure fully in line with the origin of expenditure. Jill explained it very well. This was favorable to Hella. We hope to reach 50-50 in due course. The volumes if this -- the volumes are higher at Hella. This does not change anything for the group consolidation. It's not a target. Our target is to maximize synergies for the company. May I call that all these efforts are part of current governance. And all our targets are part of this framework. To answer in part the last question, date of full integration. You may recall all the information that we stated, we talked about deleveraging, we have separated activities of business in terms of production and R&D, fully distinct, so we go by the governance bylaws and in a way that is in keeping with all applicable laws. Martin, there is nothing you want to add to this?

No, Olivier, you said it all. I mean, we have already exceeded what we had as the original target for our synergies, and therefore, I have raised the 2025 target to EUR 400 million. And as we make progress towards this target, we will continue to find ways to collaborate with Hella and maximize the value.

Thank you, Olivier, Martin. Next question. Could you please explain to us the change in value in euros of Forvia and Hella brands since 2022? Forvia overseas -- does Forvia oversees the change in value of the brand and with what method? And when was the last assessment and what was the results? For your answer, the brands seemed to attract particular attention, I'm quite surprised, but let's go.

Absolutely. So largely before, but it's a risk of being repetitive. Of course, we follow the evolution of our brand. We do so regularly. We do not comment on figures to any specific element of our brand or the value our [indiscernible]. So we follow the valuation and we do not communicate on the figures.

Next question. Again, still on the topic of brands. Again, I think Forvia brand created 3 years ago was sustained by the brand, Hella. So brand, Forvia was sustained or supported by the brand, Hella. I don't understand, Jill, you may understand. What is the financial gain by Forvia of the selling of Hella's brands and products? What are the arguments by Forvia to convince Hella to use the brand, Forvia.

As we see it, both companies benefit from the use and the development of the Forvia brand by one another. So our branding strategy is consistent with this philosophy. It follows an endorsed brand architecture or more simply put an umbrella where Faurecia and Hella, we maintain our distinct identities, but were endorsed by Forvia as the umbrella brand. This model allows us to leverage our strengths and allows Hella to leverage its strengths while preserving the assets of each brand. Sorry, short and sweet.

Indeed. And so the next question. The next question is on intergroup conventions like related parties. There are as many as 86 relations between Hella and [indiscernible] for about EUR 46 million in 2023. But at Forvia, there's only one agreement, the coordination agreement, that's considered to be a related party agreement and there's no payment in either way. So can you explain? So maybe Olivier can address this, maybe I understand the question better than I understand it myself. I'm sure you can have an answer.

Yes. Well, I'll try to answer the question. And I hope that this was shed light on the matter. From a legal standpoint, Forvia SE has only one coordination agreement with Hella in the URD report. You will find under the related party agreements, you'll see that convention in that agreement alone, that related party agreement alone. Now in this report, and I'm a member of that committee, we list all the transactions between Hella and Forvia and there is a comprehensive review of the terms and conditions of these agreements as to ensure the transaction to make sure that after the detriment of Hella and that is called the dependency report. The dependence report is reviewed and audited by Hella's auditors to ensure that all existing transactions between Hella and Forvia, all the transaction should be at arm's length condition or to Hella's advantage. Now the transaction are listed. There were EUR 46 million in 2023. They include sales between the 2 companies and billing of services as part of what is pooled, but the dependency report ensures that the interest of all the Hella's shareholders, in particular, Hella's minority shareholders be protected, and this should be reviewed comprehensively on a regular basis.

All right. Well, thank you, Olivier. Martin Fischer tells me that there's a figure that was given on synergies between the 2 companies, and that figure needs to be corrected, maybe, Olivier?

Well, the purpose, of course, is to do better than EUR 400 million in synergies by the end of 2025 and that can be a significant overshoot in some cases. And sometimes our internal ambitions can be more than the EUR 400 million, and that's just what Martin was referring to with a figure of EUR 450 million. But our review is there to ensure that we should be -- we should reach or indeed go beyond the EUR 400 million mark by the end of 2025. And that's the figure and guidance will be given to the financial markets.

Jill, I believe this is the last of the questions that was provided on paper. So we'll move on, and this is -- I can reassure you the final part of the Q&A and that is questions from the audience. If there are any questions from the audience, this is your chance to ask the questions, and then I'll call, ask all participants to stand up, so we can see you and introduce yourselves prior to giving your questions. I believe there are microphones going around. And so if there are any questions, please raise your hands, and you will be handed a microphone. You may remember that there were a number of questions in writing. It may well be that people believe this was -- all the questions were, in fact, addressed. There's no second [indiscernible] going once or twice, no. Well, I'd like to thank all shareholders for their questions. We've never had so many questions in the past. And I really would like to thank those who provided answers because some of the questions, once again, were highly technical in nature. And now we move on to the very large part of the AGM, and that's the resolutions. Jill?

Well, I'll ask Mr. Ben [indiscernible], who is Vice Chair and Head of Governance and Regulatory Affairs to join us for the resolutions in French. Melissa, please take it away. And so you understand why it's better for Jill to speak English rather than French.

Yes, indeed. Well, ladies and gentlemen, before we move on to the votes. Let us remind you that regarding the final attendance and number of shares held by shareholders voting or having voted -- having given proxy is 110,467,549 -- 110,467,749 or 56.26% of all the share capital or shares rather with voting rights. Regarding the voting conditions for ordinary resolution that is those resolution from 1 to 21 and plus Resolution 34, they require a simple majority of shareholders either represented or having voted by post. For extraordinary sessions from 21 to 33, they require 2/3 of the votes having already voted or who are represented. You have a little device here, a voting device, and you can see on the slide how it works. If you want to vote once the vote is open, you should press the key, either 1 or 2 against, and 3 abstention. You may change your mind while the vote is going by pressing a new key. You should see the words received to show that your vote was indeed cast. The text of all the resolutions were published in due time, and you find this on Pages 23 to 50 of the Notice of the Meeting that you will find online. And that is the reason why we only gave a short presentation of the resolutions when it comes to the vote. We'll start off with ordinary questions. Resolution #1 is about the approval of the parent company financial statements for the year 2024 and with approval of nontax deductible expenses and charge. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed. And the resolution is adopted. Resolution #2 concerns the approval of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Please vote now. [Voting]

Voting is closed. And the resolution was carried. For Resolution #3, you're being asked to vote on the appropriation of the net income for the year ended December 31, 2024. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution was carried. Resolution #4 is on related party agreements entered in 2024. You're asked to approve the statutory auditor's special report on related party agreements and to approve 2 new such agreements entered into during the year 2024. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed. And the resolution was carried. Resolution #5 is on the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit to replace Ernst & Young Audit act as Statutory Auditors’. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed, and the resolution is carried. Resolution #6 concerns the reappointment of Forvis Mazars as Statutory Auditor. Please vote now. [Voting]

Voting is closed and the resolution was carried as well. Resolution #7 is on the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit to replace Ernst & Young Audit in the capacity as Strategy Auditor in charge of certifying sustainability information. Please vote now. [Voting]

Voting is closed. And the resolution was carried. Number 8, reappointment of f Forvis Mazars in the capacity as Statutory Auditor in charge of certifying sustainability information. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. The following resolutions are the governance of the company. Number 9 is on the appointment of Martin Fischer as Director. You're asked to appoint Martin Fischer to the Board of Directors for a 4-year term. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. Resolution #10, you are asked to renew Penelope Herscher's term of office as Director. Her term comes to close at the end of this AGM. Please vote now. [Voting]

The vote is closed and the resolution was carried. 11 is on the renewal of Valérie Landon's term of office as Director. Her term expires at the close of this AGM. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed. and the resolution is carried. Resolution #12 is on the renewal of the term of office as Director of f Peugeot 1810 for further 4 years. Their time comes to an end at the close of this AGM. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed, the resolution is carried. Under Resolution #13, you asked to appoint Lutz Meschke as a Director. His term will start off as 1st January 2026, and it will expire the close of the AGM to be held in 2029 at the end of the 4-year period. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution was carried. Next resolutions are on compensation issues. Resolution #14, you asked to approve the information referred to in Article L. 22-10-9 of the French Commercial Code concerning the report on the compensation of corporate officers in the year 2024. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and resolution is carried. 15th resolution relates to the exposed vote on the 2024 compensation of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, you asked to approve the components of the total compensation package and the benefits of any kind paid during the year ended 31 December 2024, or granted in respect of the same year to Michel de Rosen, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and resolution is carried. The 16th is exposed vote on the Chief Executive Officer's 2024 compensation. You asked to approve the components of the total compensation package and benefits of any kind paid during the year ended 31 December 2024 or granted in respect of the same year to Patrick Koller, Chief Executive Officer until February 28, 2025. Please vote now. [Voting]

The vote is closed and the resolution is carried. 17th resolution relates to vote on the Directors' compensation policy, you asked, therefore, to approve the Directors' compensation policy for the year 2025. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. Resolution #18 is on the compensation policy, extensive vote on the compensation policy for the Chairman of the Board of Directors to approve -- you are asked to approve the compensation policy for the Chairman of the Board, please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is adopted. Resolution 19 is on the [indiscernible] and to vote on the compensation policy for the Chief Executive Officer. You asked to approve the compensation policy for the Chief Executive Officer for the year 2025. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. 20th resolution authorizes the Board of Directors to buy back the company's own shares. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. And now we'll move on to the powers and financial authorization and delegations. So the 21st resolution considers the delegation of authorities of Board of Directors to issue shares and/or securities carrying immediate or deferred rights to shares in the company and/or subsidiary and/or debt securities with preemptive subscription rights. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. 22nd resolution, you asked to allow the Board of Directors to issue shares and/or securities giving access immediately or in the future to the share capital of the company and/or the of the Subsidiary and/or debt securities without preferential subscription rights through a public offering and/or as compensation for securities as part of the public exchange offer. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. Now for Resolution 23, you asked to allow the Board of Directors to issue shares and/or securities, giving access immediately or in the future to the share capital of the company and/or the Subsidiary and/or debt securities without preferential subscription rights through an offer exclusively targeting a restricted circle of investors acting for their own account or qualified investors. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and that is carried. Resolution #24, the Board of Directors to increase the amount of issues provided for in 21st, 22nd, 23rd resolutions, please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. Resolution #25 enable the Board of Directors to issue shares and/or securities, giving immediate or future access to the company's capital without preemptive subscription rights to remunerate contributions in kind of securities granted to the company. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. Resolution #26 allows the Board of Directors to increase the company's capital by capitalizing reserves, profits, premiums or other amounts that may be capitalized. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. 25th resolution of the Board of Directors to grant for free existing shares and/or shares to be issued to employees and/or certain corporate officers of the company or of affiliated companies or economic interest groups with a waiver by the shareholders of their preferential subscription rights. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. Resolution 28 allows the Board of Directors to increase the share capital through the issue of shares and/or securities, giving access to the share capital with removal of the preferential subscription rights to the benefit of members of the company or group savings plan, please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. 29th resolution would enable the Board of Directors to carry out capital increases without preemptive subscription rights for a category of beneficiaries. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. 30th resolution will allow the Board of Directors to reduce the share capital by canceling shares. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. 31st resolution relates to the harmonization of the fourth paragraph of Article 14 and Articles 24 and 25, the company's bylaws concerning the use of means of telecommunication at meetings of the Board of Directors and shareholders meetings. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. The 32nd resolution is on the amendment of paragraph five of Article 14 of the company's Articles of Association concerning the written consolidation of members of the Board. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. 33rd resolution concerns the amendment of Article 13 of the company's Articles of Association relating to nonvoting Directors, please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. And now the 34th resolution concerns powers to carry our filing and publication formalities. Please vote now. [Voting]

Vote is closed and the resolution is carried. So all the resolutions were adopted. Michel, you have the floor.

Well, thank you, Melissa. I'd like to conclude with 3 points. First, I should like to thank our shareholders for their attendance either here in the room or online. And I would like them for giving a massive approval to the resolutions put to the vote. I should also like to thank all those who prepared this AGM and ensured that it ran smoothly. You have colleagues in the back of the room, you may see them. The simpler the AGM looks, the more work goes on behind the scenes for this to go smoothly. And so many, many things indeed to all our people who are working either here in the room or in other rooms, it is often in the ships hold that all the action takes place. And then in July, there will be a session where we will be presenting our performance or numbers for H1, and then there will be a Capital Markets Day attended by top management. In 2026, of course, there will be another AGM during which it will be your chance to take note of the progress achieved until then. And since this comes to an end, the session stands adjourned at 12:28. I would like to thank those who asked questions, that makes the AGM more lively and more interesting for all. Many thanks to you all. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]