Global Dominion Access, S.A. (DOM) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everybody. We're going to be starting this AGM somewhat late. And as usual, we will try this to be not a very long AGM, and we will try to focus on the really significant issues and those that perhaps you're more concerned about. But the year 2024, well, this is an AGM in which we have to talk about the year '23. And nowadays and considering how things are changing in the world, I think that it's silly because well, the general accounts would have to be made on January 1, really because in the month of April, the year 2023 is very far away. And secondly, those of us that are in this room are more interested in 2024 than in '25 and '26, but '23 is something that we already know about. We have all the information. But in any case we have to continue with this issue. We have to talk about the year '23. But I'm only going to be talking about '25, '26 and '27 until '70, which is the year that -- well, I can't go beyond the year '70 , of course. But what I mean to say by this is that Dominion -- Global Dominion Access is a company that is always operating for the long term. So in other words, all of the things that we do, the way we do our operations, well, there's always something very clear in our minds and that we're only thinking about the long term. We've never focused on carrying out short-term operations or looking for quick capital gains. That is not our world. But what we are trying to do is focus on long-term projects, projects in which you operate in a given manner for many years, and that's what Dominion is all about. But why are we talking about operating in a certain manner? But I would like to remind you, well, I'm not going to talk about the 4 Ds for Dominion, because I think that this is something that you know perfectly well. But I would like to remind you about some of the features that this project always has. And the first one has to do with its ambition because we never apply any constraints in terms of growth, with the exception of the financial cap that you can reach in whatever you're doing. However, where we do focus a lot, and I always like to remind people about this is that the profitability of the net investments of our net assets should be in excess of 20%. And we're talking about the profitability of net assets profitability of the net investments of our net assets. We're not talking about equity profitability because if we had profitability in above 20%, if the interest rates are not above 20%, it means to say that equity will have profitability above 20%. And this is a good figure. And this is our aspiration in all the investments that this company makes. Secondly, in this long-term world, there are times when certain assets can give us these profitability levels. And there are times when these assets can no longer deliver the same profitability levels. And so this is why this is something what is called rotation or turnover. And we -- in the projects that we have initiated -- and we believe that looking at it from the time perspective, with lots of mobility is a significant issue. And that doesn't mean that you have to change the basis for your work and all the way you operate. But it just means that you are resilient and that you are skillful and that you can get that done. Okay. Well, this is where we stand right now? Because this is a company that has assets that has significant capital gains. And perhaps what we have to do is finish the rotation of assets, and I was just thinking about issues that have to do with renewables. And secondly, we also have to finish asset rotations that are not related to renewables, but rather are other areas of the company where our presence wants to be focused on completely different areas. And when we talk about other areas, what I mean to say is that this is something that has to fulfill something that our CEO reminds us about every time we talk about these issues. And that is that in this world of ours, we are facing 3 transitions, and we have to cover all 3 of them. We have to be in the industrial transition. We have to be in the energy transition. And then after that, the digital transition, we're just always going to act transversely. And this is something that we've added on to the way we operate into our management practices and this is what we're currently doing in such a manner that right now then if we were looking at the company, what it's going to be like in 3, 4 or 5 years, we then see a company that's going to focus its efforts on whatever has to do with sustainability, the environment and the industry itself. Because we believe that there are different significant growth sectors for the coming years because all of the regulations, all the environmental regulations are going to grow. And they are going to give rise to new service requirements. And of course, when I talk about these new services, I am also talking about new businesses because at the end of the day, one thing is associated with the other. And this is a world in which we are going to make further progress and in which we are focusing more and more. And you will see how over the next few months, we are carrying out certain divestitures in the service sector, et cetera. that have to do with sectors that we believe are not going to grow that much, and we're going to be focusing on those sectors that we do believe are going to grow much more. So when one is focused on the long term, sometimes you have to forget about the specific issues that sometimes crop up like increases in interest rates and things like that, that can affect your results minimally, but that should not really change your final long-term objective as a company. So this is the year, we are in 2024. It's an important year and it's a year in which asset rotation is going to be very, very important. And it's also a year in which our environmental vocation is going to grow in a very ambitious manner, too. And it's also a year in which we are not really concerned, although it might affect our financial statement to a certain extent but not very concerned about interest rates. And also bearing in mind that interest rates is -- have probably reached the peak, and this will probably occur in the month of June. And then as from June, I think that we're going to be reaching a plateau. But the thing that we will see is that there'll be a decline in interest rates over the next few years. So that means that the value of our assets can be increased and we can have some very interesting capital gains. But I wouldn't like to remind you that on our balance sheet, there are lots of assets, lots of them that have hidden capital gains. And that's when placed in liquidity, what they do would produce a much better outcome for the financial statement. And this is the important thing, because the quality of assets is what's really going to represent the future of this company together with human resources. And I don't want to give you any more information and let's kick off with the AGM. So the Secretary now has a floor, please describe the terms of the summons of the AGM.

Well, the Board of Directors of Global Dominion Access in the meeting held on February 27, 2024 agreed to call the AGM to be held at 12:00 on April 23 of 2024 in the first call, and if not, the following day, which is today, at the headquarters, the company's headquarters, in the second call. And the announcement for this call was published on March 21, 2024 on the website of the Stock Exchange Commission, on the corporate website and in the El Pais newspaper. And it was also mentioned in this advertisement that this meeting was going to take place in the second call. And as laid down by these bylaws and according to the internal regulations, the Chairperson and Secretary are the same of the Board. And we would also like to point out that we have the members of the Board of Directors present here today. And as I said before, this is taking place in the second call because, yesterday at 12:00, we did not have a minimum quorum for it to take place in the first call. And we can give you provisional quorum, and we could also give you the number of shares that are present and are represented, that are present here at AGM with the right to vote. The share capital is EUR 18,892,502.63 that is divided in 151,140,021 shares, of EUR 0.125 at nominal value, and all of them -- and represent only one class, and all of them are ordinary shares, and they are represented through the personal entries. So after having presented these initial figures, we can say that there are 28 shareholders present at this AGM that hold over 46 million shares. And this means that it's EUR 5.8 billion of the share capital and 20.83%. And represented here are 97 shareholders representing over 57 million shares, which is a nominal of EUR 7.2 billion, which represents 38.2% of the share capital. So therefore, we have either present or represented at this first provisional, this is a quorum, 125 shareholders representing 104 million shares, which is a nominal of EUR 13.4 billion, and this represents 69.05% of the share capital. So therefore, at this point in time, it could be stated that we have either present or represented more than 25% of the share capital, which is the minimum quorum that is established by the Regulation 1.4 for the valid constitution of this AGM in the second call. So therefore, suggest that this AGM be validly constituted to decide on the affairs that form part of the agenda.

Well, now that we've met the requirements laid down by the social bylaws, I declare validly constituted this AGM of Global Dominion Access Sociedad Anonima. And I would like to ask the Secretary now to explain the agenda for the call.

Well, as mentioned in advertisements, the agenda comprises of the following issues. Firstly, we will be examining and approving the annual accounts carried out by Global Dominion Access, as well as the annual accounts of its consolidated group covering the fiscal year that ended on December 31, 2023. Second, the approval of the management election to the Board related to the 2023 fiscal year. Point number three, approval of the proposal for the application of results. And point number four, examination and approval of the nonfinancial statements of Dominion Global Access corresponding to the fiscal year that closed on December 31, 2023. Point number five, approval of the distribution of reservations. And point number six, and according to the agreement adopted in December, the acquisition of owned shares that we are doing directly as per Article 146 and 509 of the Stock Corporations Law, and also empower the Board to reduce the amount of share capital by amortizing the owned shares that have been acquired. And point number seven refers to the reappointment of the members of the Board whose position was about to expire for the statutory period in accordance to the category of each one of these directors. And this is going to be subjected to the approval. That is Antonio Maria Pradera Jauregui for 4 years and as the Proprietary Director; the reelection of Mr. Mikel Barandiaran for another 4 years under the category of Executive Director; the reelection of Mr. Juan Riberas Mera for 4 years under the category of Proprietary Director; the reelection of Mr. Jose Maria Bergareche Busquet for 4 years and under the category of Independent Director; the reelection of Mr. Javier Domingo De Paz for 4 years under the category of Independent Director; and the reelection of Mr. Arantza Estefania Larranaga for 4 years under the category of Independent Director; and the reelection of Mr. Amaia Gorostiza Telleria for 4 years and under the category of Independent Director; and the reelection of Mr. Juan Tomas Hernani Burzaco for 4 years under the category of Independent Director; the reelection of Mr. Jesus Maria Herrera Barandiaran for 4 years under the category of Other External Directors; and the reelection of Mr. Jorge Alvarez Aguirre for the period of 4 years under the category of Independent Director. And point number eight refers to the extension of the appointment of the account auditors of the company and its consolidated group. And point number nine refers to the maximum amount of remuneration of the directors for their positions. Point number 10 will be voted upon. That is the annual report on the remuneration of Directors. And point number 11 refers to the delegation for the execution of these agreements. And point number 12 refer to the approval of the minutes.

And now we -- the Secretary will present the agreements that are proposed for approval in relation to the items on the agenda for this AGM.

Well, as required by the Stock Corporation Law, we've made available to the shareholders since the advertisement was published those agreements that are subject to their decision. And on the website, you can see the advertisement, the announcement and the proposals for the agreements and the reports from the administrators whose intervention was necessary. We've also made available to the shareholders since that date the annual report on the corporate governance and the annual report on remunerations of directors corresponding to the year 2023 and also the nonfinancial statement. So therefore, if shareholders do not oppose this, we're going to try to explain very quickly the contents of the different items on the agenda. And then later on in the Q&A, if you want, we can read out the entire documents. And if you want us to do so, that will be the case. And the first item refers to examining and approving the annual individual and consolidated accounts of Global Dominion Access Sociedad Anonima and its dependent companies for the fiscal year closing on December 31, 2023. The second point is approving the management actions of the Board of Directors through this period. Point number 3, approving, applying to voluntary reserves -- the reserves, the profits of the company in 2023, over EUR [indiscernible] 12 million, and with a result of profits of EUR 45,308,000. Point number 4, we propose the approval of the nonfinancial statement of Dominion Sociedad Anonima for the fiscal year closing on December 31. And point number 5 says that we allocate to reserves, a supplementary dividend totaling EUR 0.00975 per each share of the company. And in this regard, the maximum amount to be paid out is over EUR 14 million. And the distribution were to be made in favor of the totality of the company's ordinary shares. And should this distribution be approved by the AGM, it would be carried out on July 9 of 2024 through the companies involved in the management actions for shares. And point number 6 refers to the agreement, which cancels the agreement taken in April 26 of 2023. But it empowers the Board to purchase own shares everything according to Articles 146 and 509 of the Stock Corporation Law. And the Board of Directors also has the possibility of reducing the amount of share capital by amortizing the owned shares acquired according to the authorization adopted. And point number seven refers to the reelection of the members of the Board that I mentioned previously. Reelection, which as I said, is carried out for the statutory period of 4 years. And point number eight proposes that we extend the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers auditors as the account auditors for our company and from the consolidated group for the fiscal year that will close on December 31, 2024. Point number nine refers to the maximum aggregated amount for the remuneration of Board Directors for the fiscal year that will close on December 31, 2024. EUR 1.3 million, which is in accordance with the policy established for this purpose for 2024, 2025, which is currently enforced as approved by the assembly in May. Point number 10, will carry out the vote on the annual remuneration report of the directors that was approved by the Board during its meeting held on February 27, 2024, according to the provisions of Article 541 of the share capital companies. And finally, point number 10 -- well, firstly, it refers to the dedication of faculties in favor of the Board to execute and inscribe in the company register all of the agreements passed. And these agreements have received the favorable report of the audit compliance and Remuneration Committee of the Board of Directors.

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. And as usual, I'm going to give the floor now to the CEO, Mr. Mikel Barandiaran Landin so that he can now talk about the individual financial and consolidated financial statements that have to do with the fiscal year that closed on December 31, 2023, and also describe how the business has evolved during this period of time.

Thank you very much, Chairman, and good morning. Thank you very much for attending this AGM of Dominion. And that's the first one that we are holding here in this new headquarters. And I think that we have more people present. But as you can see, we have presented the results in the month of February. We all know each other. So I'm going to go through the most outstanding things. And for that, we're going to show a video that we've developed with AI. It has my voice. I did not do the voiceover, so that you can see what can be done. Don't really believe what you're seeing out and about, but just listen to this. Because last year, we presented our strategic plan until 2026. We closed 2023 with a business figure that reached nearly EUR 1.2 billion and with an organic growth of 5%. And we grew in all geographies, with a bigger impact in Europe. Thanks to the activity of renewables that we kicked off within Spain and thanks to the communication services in Germany. We had a growth of 18% in our EBITDA with a percentage over sales of 12.2%, and we exceeded the barrier of 12 percentage points for the first time. The strategy that has been laid down by our plan has allowed us to even exceed the margins that we set ourselves as a goal in services and projects. So even though there has been a significant increase in financial expenses, our net results grew 43%. And these figures have now produced a strong increase in operating cash flow that has allowed us to cover all of the disbursements of our inorganic activities, and we've also been able to remunerate shareholders. We've also spent EUR 29 million on expanding our infrastructure businesses for renewables and on the mobile devices business, with a return of net assets above our 20% target. And the evolution of our results once again proves that we are a resilient and recurrent company with a culture that is shared by our team all over the world. And Dominion. Dominion, it's all about efficiency and sustainability for a world undergoing transformation. Well, as you see, I'm -- imitate myself pretty well, so you have to be careful about this. Well, you can see that the global interpretation of these results is very positive. We've had a significant growth in terms of margins and profitability, and that our evolution year-on-year has been positive. And that proves that we are a recurrent and resilient company and which adapts perfectly well to complicated situations like the pandemic or the wars that we are facing now. And this is thanks to our business model and thanks to our culture, as Anton pointed out before, and also thanks to the excellent team that is supporting me here today. And the profit per share has grown 200%, so those being multiplied by 3. and when listed on the market, it was only EUR 0.1, but now EUR 0.193. And I wouldn't like to say that this could not be seen in the price of the share because as shareholders are all concerned about the price of shares. And even though we have the backing of the world of the analysts because you know that all of them have the recommendation to buy, and they have potential of revaluating nearly 100%, if multiplied by 2. As regards to the target for 2023, the average price was EUR 6.20. And after the previews of the first quarter, we now stand at EUR 6.45 per share. And it is true that we are facing a different cycle here. But as I understand -- well, things can change, of course, but we're not going to stop here, because we are permanently thinking about this at the company and we're considering alternatives. And we do whatever has to be done to change this situation to the highest possible degree, and we are still implementing our strategic plan, as you can imagine. And then in 2023, the company invested EUR 21 million in remunerating shareholders, with a distribution of dividends and the amortization of owned shares. We've also taken the question of value for our shareholders. And last year, we paid out EUR 14.7 million in dividend, which is 1/3 of the recurrent profits. And this AGM, we want to distribute the net profit for 2023, which is in line with our dividend policy and what is covered by the strategic plan. And during 2023, we also carried out a buyback program in order to amortize -- to retain amortization of nearly EUR 6 million. So that means that our shareholders own a somewhat higher percentage of the company. And therefore, this means that the profit per share and the dividend have grown. Right now, we have no buyback program underway, but we say that, as long as we are standing at this level, we are their best investment, so we did not roll out initiating new buyback programs. In the meantime, we've initiated a liquidity contract to compensate the liquidity that has been lost through the different buyback programs, because you know that we have bought back nearly 15% of the company. But we're not only going to be talking about financial information. As you know, our stakeholders give more relevance to nonfinancial information, especially to our performance in terms of sustainability, in what people are calling ESG. We know that our company is committed to sustainability. And this is why we have joined the World Pact, and we are informing on all of the progress made in terms of sustainable development goals. But this commitment, well, we don't only want to talk about it, but supported with facts. And I think the best way to measure things is by looking into the external sustainability ratings, which are 2, the one from Standard & Poor's, which is one of the most vetted ones by our investors. We've reached the percentile 90%, which means that we are amongst 10% of the companies that are performing best or we have EcoVadis where we've reached the percentile 95%. We are amongst the 5 best companies -- 5% of the best companies. And this allows companies to achieve their taxonomy level. So that means that our taxonomy is their taxonomy too. But that's going to create a depth about the world of -- talking about the environment, what we have to say that we are a company, as you know, we do not develop a large carbon footprint. But we can say that we have a neutral kind of footprint because we avoid more emissions, thanks to our renewable plants, compared to those that we produce with our industrial activities. But even so we are making an effort to understand this footprint much better. It's very difficult. We've certified as calculation according to ISO 14064 in scopes 1 and 2. One refers to the emissions we produce directly because of the burning of hydrocarbons. And two is what our energy provider produces. And three has to do with the chain upwards and downwards purchases, logistics, transport, et cetera, et cetera. So we do not only calculate these emissions, but we've also made an effort and have set objectives that I believe are very ambitious to reduce these levels based on the science-based targets initiative that is fully in line with the Paris Agreement, and which means that by 2030, which is the [ tougher ] tomorrow, we will be reducing emissions by 42% in 1 and 2, and 25% in Scope Number 3. And as regards the social issue, where do we focus at Dominion? Well, firstly, we want to be what we already are. We are diverse and inclusive. We have between 12,000 -- something like 12,000 people working for Dominion. Well, we're just over 12,000. And right now, we have lots of service contracts, too. And we have employees from 77 nationalities from 30 countries where we are operating. And this large human group has people from all different generations, from the baby boomers, and I'm one of those baby boomers, Z Generation, or Generation Z. And what we want to do is manage multicultural teams and having equal opportunities for all and with 0 tolerance for any kind of discrimination. We are also focusing a lot on attracting and retaining talent, which is a challenge for us, although I think that is also a challenge for the rest of the companies, and especially after the big resignation that took place after the pandemic. So this is why in 2023, we've focused on an entrepreneurship talent, with a program called [ BQO ] to boost a project related to sustainability and technology and it offers opportunities to people with hypertension to develop their ideas on projects. They are with us in our offices next door, just behind me, in fact, and we can mentorize them and share with them our management culture firsthand. And this project focuses on key factors in our culture. In other words, entrepreneurial spirit and soft skills. We think that they already have the hard skills. And we are convinced that these new leaderships will be influenced by a combination of these elements. And it's important to understand that this is an absolutely different project. It's not an accelerator, it's not a business school, and it's not a venture capital, and it's not a corporate university. It's everything at the same time. It's a very flexible program adapted to the needs of each project and each person. And we're very happy with the first edition, not only because of the participants because they have been marvelous, but also because of the effect that this has produced in the mentors with our top 100 people that has allowed them to grow as managers and as people motivators. Now I will try to underscore the initiatives we have for whatever has to do with young talent, like international mobility scholarships or STEM scholarships or grants, because of the kind of company we are. And we've reached out to more than 300 people. And the final ratio -- hiring ratio has been in excess of 50%. And then we also have the Dominion University. It's a software platform that's born to deal with compliance, but which we have extended to the area of professional growth with continuous training, ongoing training and onboarding. And as regards the G, governance, well, we have to talk about the good governance aspects. We are a listed company. We don't only respect the regulation, but we go beyond that. And we have gradually implemented all of the best international practices. And we've also reinforced our ethical commitment. Last year we obtained the ISO 27001 certification for anti bribes. And that means that we have no tolerance for any kind of corruption. And finally, in the area of cybersecurity, we should all be concerned about, and everybody is being affected by this, we have carried on developing robust IT safety system that has been reinforced by obtaining this ISO 27001 certification. But in the case of the Dominion, our relationship with sustainability is not only being about sustainable, which is what I've just mentioned, in relation to the E and the S and the G, but what we, Dominion, has put its stakes on helping our customers to be more sustainable. And in particular, we have to focus on E with the environment and whatever has to do with decarbonization, which we consider is a major business opportunity and also an opportunity that we must make use of. And in fact, I would say that this opportunity fits perfectly well with the Dominion philosophy. As you know, since we were born, we have focused on delivering efficiency to the business processes of our customers, and we're helping them to be more sustainable. And to meet their decarbonization commitments, we have to help them be efficient in the long term. So we have to help our customers to be more efficient or more sustainable rather. And it's important to recall our strategic plan, and refer to these opportunities and had 3 fundamental pillars: simplification, sustainability and recurrence. Simplifying means that we have to rearrange our activities and making the necessary investments or divestitures, as Anton pointed out, that we have been doing in the last few years. And we have to focus on where our strategic focuses are. And this simplification is geared towards sustainability. And recurrence is fundamental for us. And on the closing date of 2024, we will reach the objectives that we had set ourselves, that is 60% of our accounts, of our contribution margin be recurrent. And this is what we've already seen, the figures that we've presented. So in short, we want to be a company that makes the most of the opportunities offered by sustainability. And as I said before, one that has to do with the environment, so in other words, the E as in ESG, and I think that we're on the right path to achieve this. And these opportunities originate from the need to transform as a company to our customers. And as Antonio pointed out, these are the 3 major transitions that we are undergoing: the energy transition, the industrial and the digital transition. And now let's look into the details of these transitions, the opportunities they offer, and what it is we're doing at Dominion to make the most of them. Firstly, let's kick off with the energy transition, that is closely related to the Paris Agreement, that is the covenant acquired by most of the countries in the world to address climate change, and which substantially reduces the emissions of greenhouse gases, to limit the global temperature in this century. But in order to do so, industries and society have to act in the 3 scopes that I've mentioned before, in 1, 2 and 3. And firstly, we have to try to reduce as much as we can the use of engines and machinery, whatever has to do with hydrocarbons, and replacing them with others that are electric. And this is all about electrification. So to carry out this process, we need to have a suitable transport and distribution grid that can provide the necessary support. In other words, what we have to do is adapt the electricity system. And as a reference, the European Employers Association, Eurelectric predicts that it's EUR 0.67 that should be invested for each euro spent in the area of generation. You know that Dominion has been working in this field for some time, and we have developed a powerful unit for the deployment of low and medium voltage lines. So we are now preferential suppliers to the main leaders in the sector in Latin America and in Europe, fundamentally in Spain. And we're also carrying out significant projects for the deployment of electric chargers. And finally, as you know, we are carrying out major projects in high-voltage distribution, fundamentally in Africa. But in order to significantly reduce emissions, you should not only replace Scope 1 emissions, because if we do that in replacing with Scope 2, the truth is that we would achieve very much. So what we have to do, we have to make our energy suppliers reduce their emissions too in terms of generation. But in order to achieve this, what we have to do is increase the amount of installed capacity in renewables. The commission, European Commission, expects that more than 40% of the energy consumed in Europe will be renewables by 2023. And in 2050, it will be practically the totality. But as I say, by 2050, they want the totality of generation to be renewables, and we have to make this -- make the most of this opportunity. Dominion developed a renewables division that has a pipeline of projects, over 2.5 gigawatts. And 360-degree conception is something that we developed and built and maintained in renewable infrastructures, fundamentally PV, with an extensive geographic diversification in North America, Central America, and right now in Europe, fundamentally in Spain and Italy, although we are still carrying out lots of prospections in other countries, too. Moving on to the industrial transition, this is a very extensive concept. And as Anton pointed out, it has to do with the other 2 transitions too, the energy transition and the digital transition. But in any case, I think that it has its own role to play, although it's a very extensive [indiscernible] it's very important from the industrial point of view to make the processes more efficient. And this means that you have to produce quicker, cheaper and with higher quality levels. From the point of view of sustainability, the industrial transition is very relevant when it's aimed at optimizing the use of any kind of resource. And the industry is -- accounts for 20% of emissions. And if we were to include generation, energy generation, it would be 4% to 5%. If we include whatever has to do with transport and logistics, it would be 70%. And the main companies in the world, especially the European firms and the American firms, now have ambitious objectives in terms of reducing emissions according to the Paris Agreement, supervised by the science-based targets. And reaching these objectives mean that you have to implement a decarbonization plan of the different companies where they are planning investments and measures that would allow them to reduce these emissions in which we are also involved. The European Union has set the objective of achieving a reduction of 55% by 2030 of the greenhouse emissions of Scopes 1 and 2, and 25% of emissions that are related to Scope 3. Well, as I already mentioned before, this will allow our customers to be more efficient. But in this case, we will be partners in this decarbonization. We have a significant offer of services and solutions that will help our customers reduce their emissions, optimizing their heat processes with better coatings, designing and building tall structures like stacks that will reduce emissions and that would also optimize heat losses and also optimize equipment maintenance, extending their operating life and minimizing consumption levels, and also applying specific tools and solutions developed in-house in the area of energy efficiency. Another fundamental area for sustainability industry is a circular economy, that includes or that goes far beyond waste management. And here, we're talking about redesigning and reducing and reutilizing, repairing, renovating, recuperating and recycling things. And most of our customers you know that are thinking about how to modify their supply chains and processes to maximize the possibilities offered by waste reutilization or to use recycled materials in their processes. And this change of mindset, I think that there are 2 trends. One of them that says we will be able to reduce emissions by using recycled product, by consuming less. That means that we will be consuming less energy compared to using new materials. But I think that the most important thing is what the regulation says. And the regulations are more and more demanding on practically all the sectors. And this is the end-result of the action plan that the European Green Pact forms part of, and while we have the circular economy in Europe that will be able to increase the GDP between 0.5% and 1%, reaching EUR 700 million. And this will create about 700,000 jobs. And Dominion wants to be a leading supplier in this area. We already have a very successful line of business in the area of circular economy that is focused a lot on the oil and gas sector where we have focused on cleaning, treating, recovering and revaluing different kinds of wastes. We have our own technology with a specific focus on occupational safety. We're working with hazardous materials, and this is a very well an issue in this sector and where we want to become a global player. And we also have capabilities and experience in a sector that has an enormous future like waste of energy, where the waste from an industry, often society becomes a source for the generation of power. And finally, we are entering into the world of water treatment and are still -- we're talking about industrial wastewaters. And this is the area that is being focused on by the European Union because of its emphasis because you know that this is a very scarce asset. And finally, as regards the transitions. Well, we talked about the third one, the digital transition. And as Anton said, it's a transversal transition, it's a tool. But I think that it goes beyond because it means that we're applying digital technologies to all aspects in society. And in fact, digitization is so relevant that in areas like education or health, well as United Nations, how we use the concept that is called digital divide to refer to the socioeconomic disadvantages that certain people or communities or countries are facing because they do not have access to information technologies. Governments all over the world are making a tremendous effort to invest in infrastructure that guarantee the right to information. That means that they have to invest in broadband networks and telecommunication networks and data processing centers. And investments are being made in health care systems with state-of-the-art equipment, especially in whatever has to do with imaging, or modern educational system, or digitized justice systems, and a very long et cetera. And although -- well, everybody has a mobile phone, but when you go to a very poor country, it seems that everybody has a mobile phone. But nowadays, 1/3 of the world's population doesn't access to the Internet and 50% doesn't have access to broadband. Now we also have Dominion presence in all these efforts. You know that we were born in the world of telecommunications, and we have a setup -- we've achieved a very relevant position as a preferential supplier of the main telecommunication operators and whatever has to do with the deployment operation. We're growing a lot in Germany. These countries were lagging behind in terms of digital deployment. And we have a very strong position, as you know, in Latin America and Spain. Likewise, we've also -- we're also playing a very outstanding role in the area of data processing centers. We've just finished one in Chile. It's a project of more than EUR 15 million. It's -- and you know that we -- with the Basque government, we are participating in a Tier 4. In the area of health care, we also have extensive experience in the integration of hospital technology with a significant pipeline of projects in Chile that we will carry out over the next few years. And finally, we can't forget about our capacities in the area of technological distribution, how we can make technology reach the end-users with projects like renting or the renting of devices or [ swipe it ] the repurchase, repair and reselling of telecommunications products. So in a nutshell, at Dominion, we see that there's an excellent opportunity in sustainability in all 3 transitions. And as you can see, what we are doing and what we have done is we have rearranged our different activities into these 3 transitions and where we have just seen the different divisions of Dominion involved. But in any case, I would like to take the opportunity to say something about how quickly we are advancing in all of these measures that have to do with the Paris Agreement, because we all recently experienced the tractor crisis, which I think shows that farmers are upset, and I think that we're going to have several of these episodes very soon. We'll have several backlashes. I'm not sure if you read the letter from the BlackRock CEO. And he, let's say, backtracks in many respects. But in any case, I think that the changes that they are requesting are in-depth. And although the capacity of adaptation is slow in our sectors, I don't think that there's any possibility of going back. I think that these changes and these opportunities that we have described are going to be an inevitable reality and the important thing is that we get the timing right. And I think that when we make use of these opportunities, we should never forget about essence, in other words what we are, and we prefer to do things in a different manner. And we've always tried to have a differential character. And for this, it's essential not to use [ from site ] technology, and we also have to promote innovation in-house. And we have the Red Queen paradox; those of you that know the Alice in Wonderland story, you know that when Alice is running with the Red Queen, she's running and running and when she sits down because she is tired, because she hasn't made any progress. And we have to make sure that nobody overtakes you as a company, too. So one of the technological disruptions that we've spoken about before is generative AI. We saw this in this financial disclosure that you thought that was me, but there are lots of alarmist impacts regarding the negative impacts that could be produced. I think that is not a threat, I've said this at the Board meeting. I think that it's going to be an ally that is going to allow us to deal with certain routine operations and will allow us to develop other capabilities that are more valuable, like creativity or innovation, which I think they are exclusive things of human beings, although we'll see years down the road. And then we also have to focus a lot on our directors. You know that there's a decentralization and that we want these people to be entrepreneurs. And I would like to take the opportunity to tell you people about the implementation of a reward and talent retention program that has been facilitated to -- that has been set up to facilitate the access to the capital of the company. It's 50 managers that will receive a loan from the company to buy a certain number of shares as long as they remain with the company and as long as they pay back this loan in 4 years. So therefore, they're going to become shareholders and this is going to increase their connection and they're going to be fully in line with the Dominion objective, and they're going to participate in our actions in markets type point of view. And I wouldn't want to finish my presentation without looking at the future. And regards the immediate future, well, tomorrow, before the market opens, you will have the information on the first quarter of 2024. And this will be fully in line with what we expected with growth in line with our projections and perhaps with a slight penalization because of the increase in financial expenses because of interest rates. But apart from the short term and after fulfilling the 2023 plan, we have 2 years ahead of us in which we can carry out the strategic plan. And those of us that talk about compounded growth, it's about 5% in terms of sales, we're talking about organic, 7% in EBITDA, and 9% in terms of free cash flow growth. And all of this in -- all of this under the financial discipline, and with return over net assets, as Anton pointed out, over 20%. Our objective is to grow both in terms of size and margin, but also in terms of quality of activities. And we will do so with all of these elements that I've just shared with you in the different transitions. And I think that we have some very good prospects because you can see that the opportunities are numerous, and so is our capacity. And we have the right kind of team to make the most of these things, which I think is a very outstanding team. Thank you very much for putting up with this speech of mine.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. If any of the shareholders now wishes to ask for more information as laid down in Article 197 of the Share Capital Law on the issues addressed by the agenda, we'll now move on to the Q&A session for your interventions. Do we have any questions from the audience? Or shall we continue? Well, this tradition of not having any questions, it's still here with us. Okay. So we have no questions then. So that means that, Mr. CEO, everything is crystal clear. But I would like to ask the Secretary now to present the approval of the agreements, the full part of the agenda.

Well, before passing on to the votes itself, we're now going to mention the definitive quorum. And well, we have 35 shareholders present, that represent over 51 million shares, and which is 33.79% of the share capital. There are 101 represented shareholders that represent over 57 million shares, which represents 38.25% of the share capital. So we can say that there are 136 shareholders present and represented -- which represent more than 108 million shares, which is 72.04% of the share capital. And this means that there are shareholders with more than 25% of the share capital, so that means that we have the necessary quorum for this AGM, in its second call. So we can therefore move on to the vote for the different agreements, and we would do so separately, one after the other. And well, as regards to the votes that have been sent via the post -- we have votes against and abstentions in relation to certain points that are now being voted upon, and this afternoon, we will make available to the shareholders on the corporate website as well as on the website of the Stock Exchange Commission. We will be showing you the details of the votes in favor, against and abstentions regarding each item of the agenda. But this will not modify the end-result of the voting process if you decide to approve the agreement. So we can start off with the first item of the agenda that refers to the approval of the annual individual and consolidated accounts of Global Dominion Access Sociedad Anonima and its consolidated group. All of this has to do with the fiscal year that closed on December 31, 2023. Is this approved? Carried. Point number 2 refers to the approval of the management of the Board of Directors of the fiscal year 2023 closing on December 31. Is this approved? Approved. Point number 3 presents the proposal to apply the results corresponding to the 2023 results. Is this is approved? Carried. Approved. Point number 4, it's the nonfinancial consolidated information of Dominion Access corresponding to the fiscal year closed on December 31. Is this is approved? Approved. Point number 5 refers to the approval of the distribution of reserves previously mentioned. This is approved? Approved. Point number 6 is the point that refers to the authorization for the Board to acquire owned shares directly through group companies all through the members of the Board to carry a reduction of capital or as per the agreement that was adopted. Approved. Point number 7, we're going to be moving on now to a separate votes for each of the reappointment points for the members of the Board of Directors. First, the reelection of Mr. Don Antonio Maria Pradera Jauregui for 4 years under the category of Proprietary Director. Approved. Mr. Pradera, do you accept your reelection?

I accept.

And point 7.2, reelection of Mr. Barandiaran Landin as a member of the Board of Directors for the statutory period of 4 years under the category of Executive Director. Approved. Mr. Barandiaran, do you accept this position?

Yes, I accept it.

Next point has to do with the reelection of Mr. Juan Maria Riberas Mera for 4 years and under category of Proprietary Director. Is this approved? Approved. Point 7.5, the reelection of Mr. Jose Maria Bergareche Busquet for 4 years under the category of Independent Director. Is this approved? Approved. Mr. Bergareche, do you accept this appointment?

Yes.

Point 7.5, the reelection of Mr. Javier Domingo De Paz for the statutory period of 4 years and under the category of Independent Director. Approved? Approved. Do you accept this, Mr. Domingo?

Yes, accept it.

Point 7.6x, the reelection of Madam Arantza Estefania Larranaga for 4 years and under the category of Independent Director. Approved? Approved. Do you accept?

Yes.

Point 7.7, the reelection of Mr. Amaia Gorostiza Telleria for the statutory period of 4 years and under the category of an Independent Director. Approved? Approved. And she also accepts. Point 7.8, the reelection of Mr. Juan Tomas Hernani Burzaco for the statutory period of 4 years and under the category of Independent Director. Is this approved? Approved. Do you accept?

Yes.

Point 7.9, reelection Mr. Jesus Maria Herrera Barandiaran for the statutory period of 4 years and under the category of other External Director. Approved? Approved. Do you accept?

Yes.

Point 7.10, reelection of Mr. Jorge Alvarez Aguirre for the statutory period of 4 years and under the category of Independent Director. Do you accept? Approved. Point number 8, extension of the appointment of the account auditors of the company. Is this approved? . Point number 9, setting the maximum amount of the remuneration of the directors for the current fiscal year. Is this approved? Approved. Point number 10, consultancy vote on the annual remuneration report for the directors corresponding to the fiscal year closing on December 31, 2023. Is this approved? Approved. Point 11, and that is approval of the authentication of faculties for the implementation of these agreements. Approved? Approved.

So consequently, we, therefore, approve all of the agreements that the items on the agenda have referred to. And to close this meeting, we propose that we approve the minutes that have been formulated during this session. And I would also like to propose, unless you shareholders wish us to do anything else so that we approve the minutes, unless you want it to be read out. So therefore, we also approve the minutes of the AGM. As there are no further issues to be discussed, we adjourn the session. It's just lasted 1 hour. That was perfect. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]