L'Air Liquide S.A. (AI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good afternoon. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, we have, for the past several weeks, been going through an exceptional situation. I hope that you, your families and your nearest and dearest are in good health. So it's against a very special backdrop that I am speaking to you today as the CEO of the Board. The Annual General Meeting is a key moment in the life of your group. It sets important decisions. And therefore, we decided to maintain this meeting on the planned date while adapting to the very special situation we find ourselves in. In order to comply with regulatory requirements, which limit movement and put a ban on gatherings, and in order to preserve everybody's health, we decided to completely overview our organization. We decided to hold, exceptionally, the Annual General Meeting in closed session at Air Liquide headquarters with a live transmission over the Internet. I should add that the -- an amount equivalent to directors' fees will be donated to the Air Liquide Foundation and the finance action by the foundation against the pandemic. So it's with a very small group that I will be handling this AGM with Fabienne Lecorvaisier, the CFO. The directors of your group, who are usually attending in person, will, like yourselves, be following the meeting remotely. The convening of this mixed general meeting was published in the BALO dated March 25 2020, and in the legal announcement bulletin, Les Petites Affiches, from April 2 2020. All the owners of registered stock as well as the statutory auditors have been convened by mail to this AGM. A very large number of you have cast your votes by correspondence, either using the ballot paper or online through the voting platforms. I'm delighted because every vote counts. Now moving on to the bureau. Under the exceptional regulations established due to circumstances, the assembly bureau was established on the -- further to the decision of Board today. As the chairperson of the Board, I will be chairing meeting. The tellers are Madam Alexandra Rocca, an individual shareholder and Director of Communication of the Air Liquide Group; [ Mr. Cyril Odinet ], who is an individual shareholder and project manager for Creative Spirit. And they are attending in the room. With the agreement of the tellers, Madam Fabienne Lecorvaisier, will be the meeting secretary. So we now have a bureau. I recall that the AGM is being held in closed session, and all of the voting has been done by correspondence. We have gathered all the ballot papers until midnight on May 1 and your Internet votes until yesterday, May 4 at 3:00 p.m., consistent with the rules. The vote was closed, and the result will be submitted further to the question-and-answer session. So the total number of shareholders was 105,000 shareholders out of a total of 245,685,378 shares with voting rights, which is 52.11%, recalling that each share has 1 vote. So the quorum has been reached, and the AGM may be held. The agenda that has been published is displayed on the screen. So I now declare the AGM open. All of the documents required under existing legislation have been submitted. And all the preliminary documents have been provided to shareholders through the shareholder department and on the website of the company, consistent with legal requirements. No shareholder has used his right to ask for additional agenda items. The Economic and Social Committee received, in a timely manner, the documents and information submitted to the general meeting, and it has not exercised its right regarding draft resolutions on the agenda. Like every year, I suggest that we do not proceed to read all the reports of the Board. As part of the preparation for this Annual General Meeting, we have conducted a survey, through which over 6,600 shareholders responded, and I wish to thank them because this has been most useful in order to establish the themes that you wish to have a discussion on. So what I suggest is that we start off with a presentation by Fabienne Lecorvaisier, the CFO, who will go back on the financial results for 2019. I will then provide a presentation on the strategic prospects and outlook for the group. And consistent with health requirements, both of these interventions were recorded a few days ago. Then we will have a short video on the work of the Board in 2019, and I will dwell on the new membership of the Board further to this AGM. Then I will hand over to Mr. Xavier Huillard, Chairperson of the Remuneration Committee, who will make a presentation on the remuneration of the corporate officers. This recording was made a few days ago, as Mr. Huillard was not able to join us given the current situation. And then, you will have a summary of the reports of the statutory auditors, which is also through a prerecorded statement. We will then move on to the question-and-answer session, and I will directly respond to the questions that you have submitted through the company website. And I will communicate the result of the vote on the resolutions in order to close the AGM. So what I -- I suggest that we now move on and listen to Fabienne Lecorvaisier.

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, before turning to the impact of the current global crisis, I'd like to recall the high points of 2019 whose accounts you're approving at this meeting. In an uneven economic background, your company, in 2019, made significant progress in terms of performance, investment and initiatives for the climate. We ended the year with a revenue of EUR 22 billion on a reported basis, up 4% and comparably up by 3% over last year. Gas & Services activity, representing 96% of sales, was up comparably by 3.5% on the year, benefiting from the growth of all our geographies, particularly sustained activity in Healthcare and Electronics. The group's performance was remarkable. Thanks to dynamic price management and the product mix, the efficiency programs and the asset portfolio, all our performance indicators improved on a reported basis. Operating income was up at 10%. Recurring net profit grew by over 11%, and cash flow from operations was up 14.5%. The group's operating margin reached 17.3%. That's an increase of 70 basis points, excluding the energy price impact. Thanks to efficiencies that reached EUR 433 million in 2019, ahead of our NEOS efficiencies plan, net income of the group reached EUR 2.5 billion 2019, up 6% on a reported basis. Excluding the disposal of Fujian Shenyuan in China in 2019, the exception financial cash-in of 2018, the increase in recurring net income, we reached 11%. Net debt declined once again to stand at 64% of shareholders' equity at the end of the year. Recurring return on capital employed continued to improve to reach 8.6%. That's an improvement of 60 basis points over 2018. Investment decisions reached a record level of EUR 3.7 billion, positioning us favorable on our existing markets as well as in future markets. In order to illustrate this momentum, let's review together the events that marked 2019. [Presentation]

Let me also underscore the improvement of our nonfinancial indicators, be it in terms of safety, gender equality or our carbon intensity. All these indicators improved in 2019. I believe you'll have understood that 2019 was an excellent year for your group, allowing it today to build on a solid foundation to confront the pandemic. As a precaution, in the face of uncertainties and the market links to the context, we launched in March a bond issue, EUR 1 billion, very well received by the market, in order to cover our liquidity and refinancing needs in an anticipated manner. Let me share with you the highlights of business development in Q1 2020. Comparable growth: 1% for the Americas; plus 3% in Europe; Asia Pacific, #1 region in the world impacted by the pandemic is slightly down, minus 1%. The strength of our business model and our long-term contracts in Large Industries as well continues. Strong demand in Electronics, strong growth in Healthcare led us to offset the drop in Industrial Merchant, notably in China. Other geographies were only affected right at the end of the period, Gas & Services posting an increase of 1% in comparable, whereas the group's revenue is slightly up over last year at plus 0.6%. These figures once again confirm the resilience of our business model. In terms of performance, we achieved 91 million sustainable efficiencies this quarter and strengthened measures for cost control and receivables to address the decrease in activity. Of course, it's very difficult at this stage to assess the consequences of the situation on the 2020 results. But building on the resilience of its fundamentals and the commitment of teams around the continuity and cost management plans in place, your group is confident in its ability to overcome this challenging period in the best possible conditions. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Fabienne. And now I would like to talk about the strategy and the prospects for the group, in other words, how the group is facing the crisis, dealing with it and preparing for the future. This is a video recording made a few days ago. [Presentation]

[Interpreted] I would like to cover four points: our response to the crisis; the impact on the group; the questions arising for the medium term; and our vision for the future. How did we respond to the crisis? I must say that all the employees of Air Liquide in all the businesses in all the functions all around the world have responded to the urgency with a degree of professionalism and commitment that is remarkable. I wish to commend them all. What was our response? In China, that's where everything began. With 300 employees working in Wuhan, we were in the front lines, and this was in -- from January of 2020. Now, of course, we were taken unaware by the scale of the outbreak of the pandemic first in China, then in Europe and Italy, and we were able to benefit from this experience and be ahead of the curve. Everywhere, stringent business continuity plans were implemented, and these plans were existing before the crisis. They were methodically implemented in order to ensure the safety of our employees on all the plants by adapting our work methods in order to preserve jobs, wherever that was possible, and also to ensure that we maintained contact with customers and to guarantee the continuity of production, emphasizing industrial security and in order to preserve the economic activity through home working during the lockdown period and also to maintain the supply and delivery chains. These business continuity plans were, to a large extent, based on digital technologies. So IT and digital resources were updated and stepped up very early on in the crisis in order to meet the increased flows. And the IT teams were amongst the first to mobilize and the group was able to exploit the infrastructure that was -- had been established over several years. Global solidarity also played an active role in terms of information and providing protective equipment when the needs were the greatest. This spirit prevails in preparing for decontainment and restarting our business, in particular, in France. And this health crisis is -- this crisis is, above all, a health crisis, and I'd like to go back in some detail on the extraordinary mobilization of the Air Liquide teams around the world. What are the main thrusts of this mobilization? Well, there are two. Firstly, the supply of medical gases. Now as you know, coronavirus affects the respiratory system, so medical oxygen is obviously essential in this fight against the disease. Your group has launched into a race against time in order to accompany the unprecedented mobilization of our Healthcare teams to support nursing homes, patients at home, hospitals. We had to step up the medical oxygen supplies with demand going up by a factor of 5. In France, Italy, Spain, we had to include -- we had to step up our supply of liquid oxygen and cylinders to hospitals to be able to create new beds in hospitals. This was the case in Wuhan, Madrid, the United States, Milan. Every day, our teams were and are still present, responding to the situation, whatever the situation, the circumstances. Number two, it was ventilators. With each ventilator, it means there's a life to be saved. And our mission is to be with the Healthcare teams. Air Liquide is the only French ventilator manufacturer to have 2 plants in France, one in Antony, the other one in Puteaux. And when the outbreak hit Europe, we understood that it was vital that we step up, accelerate the production of ventilators. From the beginning of March, we doubled and then tripled our production in April and then quadrupled it in close conjunction with the authorities. This was a very significant challenge. Rotating the teams enabled us to work 6 days a week, including night and weekend. But given the surge in the number of patients, we have to go much further without waiting. Even for a tripling of production, how could we shift the scales as quickly as possible? This was the question that was asked by the Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, and this is how we decided to set up a consortium with industrial leaders such as Valeo, Schneider, PSA and many SMEs in order to rise to this challenge to manufacture 10,000 ventilators, the equivalent of 3 years' production. This was an unprecedented challenge. And then we had to agree on the allocation of the ventilators in agreement with scientific societies and the Health Ministry, and then we had to ensure the supply, and we have to create 3 new production lines. And then on a voluntary basis, we had to call on additional employees from Air Liquide and from our partners. And the plants that were chosen were Poissy at PSA and Antony for Air Liquide, which is where the final assembly and the certification of all the respirators takes place. The 1,000 first ventilators produced by the consortium were provided to -- were supplied to the hospitals. And I should add that these ventilators are all being provided at cost price. So it's together that we are in the process of succeeding in this major industrial challenge. And I wish to thank all the partners very warmly for joining us in this unprecedented adventure. This is where I have seen the very best that French industry can produce when it comes together and combine its efforts to produce this magnificent solidarity and national mobilization. As you can see, this commitment of our Healthcare team is exceptional, and I will let you discover this with a video. [Presentation]

[Interpreted] I would -- before you, shareholders, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to commend and thank the men and women whom you have just seen and all the employees of the group, be they in the plants, on-site with clients or with customers or working from home. What you should know is that they are displaying complete commitment and professionalism, and they deserve that we commend their spirit of responsibility and their sense of civic duty. In this situation, this is also what makes me so proud to be the CEO of your group. And I think that this AGM should also be their AGM this year. I would now like to move on to impact of the crisis on the group. Of course, we are being impacted, and we will continue to be impacted by the crisis. How could it be otherwise? But over the past 10 years, we have drawn the conclusions from the financial crisis of 2009, and we have clearly bolstered our resilience. Our capacity to withstand this kind of duration has improved, thanks to our stronger position in some markets and our global network organization. What measures have been taken? Well, in industrial and human terms as well as financial terms, the response has been both fast, consistent and a display of solidarity. Several measures, additional measures have been taken: strengthening our cash control and cost control measures; increasing global efficiency investment; bolstering the group's liquidity with a bond -- long-term bond this year of EUR 1 billion launched at the end of March 2020. And all this is aimed at strengthening the group. What has been the impact on the market? What we have seen in industrial activity are the following trends: significant decline in volume restricted to some sectors, such as steel, large industry and a business that has been resilient due to contractual market share. Industrial Merchant, which serves smaller customers such as crafts persons has been the most impacted area. Electronics, which is turned towards semiconductors and flat screens, has continued to function almost as usual during the peak of the pandemic. Of course, the Healthcare business has remained very strong to date. Engineering & Construction has seen its order book decline significantly, and part of its ongoing projects have had to be stopped due to the departure of many subcontractors. And finally, Global Markets & Technologies have maintained a satisfactory level of sales. These trends are only partly reflected in first quarter sales, which are up 1%, and Fabienne Lecorvaisier has just presented this. Against this backdrop, forecasts are difficult to make because they depend both on the duration of the lockdown, the speed of the recovery and the stimulus measures in each country. But assuming a significant impact of the crisis on the second quarter results and a gradual lifting of the lockdown during the third quarter, your group is confident in its ability to increase, once again, its operational margin in 2020 and to achieve net profit close to that of 2020 at constant exchange rates. Looking beyond the end of the year, some questions will arise at global level further to this crisis, and this means that the medium-term development of the global ecosystem may be changed. Looking beyond geopolitical issues, the questions that we are asking are general -- broadly on four points. Globalization of the economy, will it remain? Until now, globalization has been based on freedom of movement of individuals, goods and capital, organizing value chains and the -- accompanied by seeking more competitive cost. So what do we see? The global economy is vulnerable, and it will be necessary to retrieve strategic independence, at least in some industries. What technologies, what key resources will we have to have access on our national territories? Next, the organization of the health care system, will it have to be reviewed at global level. Pandemics do not know borders, and they are disseminated at a speed, which is incompatible with that of medical research unless research has a much better international cooperation. So it is better to forestall a global health risk. The third question, other global challenges such as protecting the environment, access to water, energy and the planet's resources, are these going to be taken better into account in future? Very clearly, a major crisis in one of these areas could have consequences very similar to those of COVID-19. So how can we more effectively deal with these challenges at global level? And finally, the fourth question is, is the protection of our digital data sufficient? Our dependence on digital networks in order to be able to operate around the world is total. The spread of IT viruses is extremely rapid, and a new approach is required in order to ensure proper protection of our economies and of our companies in future. So as we can see, the impact of the crisis over the medium term will be very deep. Now, moving on to preparation of the future. A new world is emerging. This new world requires a new approach to globalization, to health, the environment and digital technology. Your group has -- unquestionably has strengths in order to weather the crisis and then to come out stronger. Its growth -- consistent, profitable and responsible growth model is based on a long-term vision with very strong fundamentals which will contribute to building tomorrow's world. What are these strengths? A product portfolio, which is essential for life, matter and energy; a presence at the heart of local economies in over 80 countries; contractual partnerships over the long term based on trust with our partners; extremely diversified complementary markets ranging from industry to health care. Moreover, Air Liquide is also present and acting on the major transformations involving the digital technology, climate, energy, health. We have a balanced geographical spread, which provides access to tomorrow's main markets as well as today's. We have research and innovative technology. We have developed a strong, shared culture with a demonstrated commitment by our teams. And finally, we have a loyal, stable shareholder base. Ladies and gentlemen, the relationship of trust and confidence, which we have built with you is an essential part of our base. We're very proud to have, in the share capital of our group, institutional investors, but also 420,000 individual shareholders. And this number has increased in 2019. Individual shareholders hold 32% of the share capital, and we accompany them with a team of 35 fully dedicated employees. Against this backdrop, the recommended dividend payment this year is EUR 2.7 per share, up 2.5% of face value with the allocation of free shares in October 2019. In -- we decided with the Board to maintain this dividend because it reflects the good results of 2019 and also, because it contributes to pursuing economic activity in our country, bearing in mind that Air Liquide did not call on the state for help. And I would like to thank you personally and on behalf of the group for your display of faith during this crisis in particular. And we are seeking to win that trust even more every day. In this period of legitimate concern, I wish to say that my personal commitment and that of the senior management team at Air Liquide is complete. We have never thought, and we will probably have thought that we would witness such a deep crisis. But your group in its over 100-year existence has already been confronted with adversity and external crises of all natures: pandemics, two world wars and many stock market and financial market crises. Resilience is part of our DNA. And every time, we have been able to deal with this and to draw positive conclusions in order to emerge stronger. Every time, we have used the strength of our company, the unique nature of our business and our business model and the professionalism of our teams, I have every confidence in our ability to overcome this crisis. Our new strategic plan, which will follow the NEOS plan, is in the process of being drawn up. It will be presented in greater detail once the situation becomes stable again. We must always believe in the future. And more than ever, we must invent the future. I am convinced of this. Thank you so much. What I suggest now is that we move on to governance also with a prerecorded video. [Presentation]

[Interpreted] I'd now like to comment on some of the key points of the report on corporate governance issued by the Board. Let's begin with a clip presenting the composition of your Board and the work conducted during the course of 2019. [Presentation]

[Interpreted] This year, the terms of office of 3 directors are coming to an end. These are the terms of Karen Katen, of Pierre Dufour and Brian Gilvary. Karen Katen's term cannot be renewed under the provisions of the rules of procedure of the Board of Directors. I'd like to thank Karen Katen warmly for her contribution to the work of the Board that she has been involved in for 12 years now as well as that of the Committee of Appointments and Governance of which she'd been a member since 2012. Her in-depth knowledge of the world of health care and her North American perspective were extremely useful to the Board. Pierre Dufour has decided not to request the renewal of his term of office. He has contributed very widely to the group's expansion over the 23 years that he spent with Air Liquide. He joined the group in 1997 as Director of Global Engineering. He became CEO of American Air Liquide Holdings in 2000, then, Executive Vice President to the group in 2007. He became a Director in 2012 and Chair of the Environment and Society Committee since it was set up in 2017. I'd also like to thank him very warmly for his contribution as executive, notably during the Airgas transaction as well as a Board member. Resolution 5 proposes the renewal for 4 years of Brian Gilvary, independent director and member of the Audit and Accounts Committee. He will continue to help the group benefit from his considerable experience in the world of energy, his global vision of a great, [ grand ] group and financial expertise. Resolutions 6 and 7 cover the appointment's proposal of Madam Anette Bronder and Kim-Ann Mink as Directors. You can discover them through these 2 [ video ]...

Hello. My name is Anette Bronder, and I'm thrilled to be with you today and welcome this opportunity to introduce myself. I hold a Master's degree in economics and social sciences from the University of Stuttgart. I started my professional career at Hewlett-Packard, and was there in total for more than 14 years. This lays the foundation for my technical expertise and gave me early insight and an outlook that technology will be key in most of the businesses in the future. This strong conviction naturally drove me into the high technology-driven companies like Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom. Over this decade, I was able to see how innovation blooms. I was in a good position to develop strong knowledge in growth areas such as the Internet of Things, public cloud and cybersecurity. Since 2019, I have been the CEO of Swiss Re, one of the largest re-insurance companies around the globe. It's a very different industry than the telco industry. But in this role, I oversee the operations of the firm, and I take care about effectiveness, efficiency, and I need to assure with all of my colleagues the profitable growth of the company. On the other side, I also have a strong focus on digital transformation of Swiss Re based on technology and innovation. I have always been attracted to companies that are forward-looking that embrace change and don't sit back and waiting for competition to move ahead. Air Liquide's customer-centric transformation strategy immediately caught my interest. Seeing this company seizing growth opportunities, of which one is digitization, is fascinating. It's a journey I'm looking forward to be part of it. I hope my experience in technology and digital transformation will be beneficial for Air Liquide. So with that, bye-bye for today, and I hope to see all of you soon.

Hello, my name is Kim-Ann Mink, and I'm the former Chairman, President and CEO of Innophos Holdings, a global company that delivers essential ingredients and solutions to the food, health, nutrition and specialty industrial markets. I was born and raised in a working-class family in a small coastal town in southeastern New York. And as a young school girl, I had a very influential teacher that ignited a passion for scientific discovery as she taught me that chemistry is all around us. I then decided to be a chemist. And never letting go of my goal, I went on to earn both Bachelors and Doctorate degrees in chemistry. I entered the chemical industry as a research scientist at Royal Dutch Shell. And from there, I moved on to Rohm and Haas, which later became part of the Dow Chemical Company. I discovered that my scientific education was not solely about building technical skills, but about learning how to critically think and problem solve to better address customer needs. And upon this revelation, I completed a 2-year executive business management program. I subsequently hung up my lab coat, and over the last 25 years, I pursued a commercial career. I gained significant experience in the specialty chemical industry, where I held executive positions of increasing responsibility. And finally, I have the privilege of also serving as an independent director on the Boards of 2 large U.S. public chemical company. First and foremost, I am humbled to have been nominated to join the well-respected Board of Air Liquide. I believe that my proven leadership, business insight and technical expertise, combined with my in-depth understanding of the chemical industry will serve the Board well. And as a director and former chair, I keenly understand the responsibility that independent directors have in protecting shareholders' interest. I would be truly honored to join your Board of Directors and represent all of you. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Following this meeting and subject to the adoption of the resolutions, your Board will be comprised of 12 members, 5 different nationalities and 6 women. This composition reflects the diversity and complementarity of profiles and experience, expertise and cultures sought by the Board. Let us now listen to Xavier Huillard, Chair of the Remuneration Committee, who will present the resolutions pertaining to remuneration. His intervention was also recorded remotely.

[Interpreted] Good afternoon to you, ladies and gentlemen, shareholders. This year, following the rules from the PACTE law, your meeting is invited to rule on 3 resolutions pertaining to remuneration of corporate officers. First of all, the ninth resolution, which concerns paid or awarded remuneration in 2019 to your Chairman and CEO. In accordance with what was approved by your meeting, this remuneration comprises a fixed component of EUR 1.325 million, identical to that of 2018, a variable component of approximately EUR 2.065 million. This is a function of financial criteria. And your Board noted that the results were above the target for the earnings per share and slightly lower than the target for revenue, an allocation of performance shares for a value of approximately EUR 2.25 million identical to 2018. Let's note that in order to simplify and streamline things within the group, the allocation was delivered 100% in performance shares. Next, with the 10th resolution, you're asked to rule for the first time on the remuneration of all corporate officers, including Board directors. In addition to the information already supplied in the PACTE, the universal registration document henceforth sets out the remuneration of your executives compared to the average and medium remuneration of employees in the company. In 2019, the corresponding ratios stand at 50 and 72. Also supplied information on the 5-year comparative remuneration and the performance over the past 5 years. On annual average growth, over 5 years, we see that consolidated sales and net profit grew markedly faster than the remuneration of your executive. All the information on this subject is available on Page 158 of the registration document. You'll also find on pages 164 and 165 the report on the remuneration of nonexecutive directors that remains consistent with previous practice. Lastly, the 11th resolution concerns the corporate offices' remuneration policy, including for the first time that of Board directors. For 2020, the total target annual remuneration of Benoit Potier will remain stable over 2019. The remuneration policy is effectively similar to that which you approved in 2019 with nevertheless a few changes that I will summarize. To begin with, the Board has decided to add a CSR quantitative criteria in the long-term remuneration plan. That's the carbon intensity reduction, whose target was determined in the trajectory of timed targets for the group announced at the end of 2018, aimed at reducing by 30% this carbon intensity between 2015 and 2025. The other criteria for the variable component of long-term remuneration remains the same, reflecting the commercial strategy and its responsible long-term growth. The second change results from the reform that occurred in 2019 of defined benefit pension plans that can no longer give rise to the acquisition of supplementary conditional rights as of the January 1 2020. There will therefore be a pension insurance contract that will be put in place that will replace the defined benefit pension plan. For your company, the cost of this new policy will be 20% lower than that of the previous plan. And for Benoit Potier, represents an equivalent benefit, the saving constituted will be available at retirement age, and this mechanism is subject to the same performance conditions as previously. Turning now to the portion pertaining to the remuneration of Board members. Policy is consistent with previous practice. It provides notably a material variable remuneration based on the actual participation of each Board member at meetings. It promotes increased attendance and actual effective presence of Board members in order to promote fruitful discussion and a thorough knowledge of the group's activities and issues. Lastly, the eighth resolution will allow you to note that the auditor's special report has no new related party agreement to report on. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Xavier. I'd now like to turn to the report of the statutory auditors.

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good afternoon. On behalf of the Board of Auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, I'd like to report on our assignment on the accounts for the year ended December 31, 2019. Our report on the annual consolidated financial statement are [ read ] to party agreements and resolutions concerning share capital were made available to you by the company and to be found in the registration document, [ DEU ] 2019. I will, therefore, as per usual, summarize the terms. Firstly, our report on the annual financial statements of Air Liquide S.A. to be found on Pages 282 to 284, the registration document. They are prepared in accordance with French accounting principles. We, certified these accounts without qualification or observation. We considered that the assessment of equity interests was a key audit matter for us. As regards our report on the group's consolidated financial statements, drawn up under IFRS as adopted by the European Union, this report is to be found on Pages 265 to 268 of the document. We certified these accounts with an unqualified opinion with an observation concerning the first application in 2019 of IFRS 16 concerning leases. We considered, as key audit matters, the following 3 matters that concern significant assessments of management for large industry 2 items: the characterization of contracts and procedures for recognition of revenue; lastly, the depreciation period for production assets and their realizable value; and lastly, the implementation of goodwill impairment tests. We recall that the fundamental objective of our assignment is to obtain reasonable assurance that the accounts give a true and fair view and contain no material misstatements. Our approach is adapted to the group's various activities and businesses as well as its international organization. We seek to order -- both audit general transactions and specific events and conducted our procedures in accordance with French professional standards. We also ensured that the management report did indeed include the consolidated statement of your group's nonfinancial performance. We also issued our report on related party agreements to be found on Page 346. We have not been advised of any new agreement. The agreement covering the life insurance contract of Mr. Potier agreement previously authorized by the AGM during prior years continued during the past year. Concerning the special report, we draw your attention to the fact that following Ordinance 2019-1234, the 27th of November 2019, pertaining to the remuneration of corporate officers of listed companies' commitments taken in respect of corporate offices no longer have to be included in the auditor's special report on related party agreements of those companies. Lastly, under the extraordinary part of your AGM, we have issued 3 reports, Pages 347 to 349, covering various resolutions authorizing transactions, which may have an impact on your company's share capital. That's to say, capital reduction, issuance of ordinary shares and other equity securities giving the employees access to the share capital. These reports do not contain any specific reps and/or observation. We will prepare additional reports if and when the Board uses these authorizations. Thank you for your attention.

[Interpreted] Thank you. So we are reaching the end of the presentations. And we're now going to move on to the question-and-answer session.

[Interpreted] I would like to inform you that consistent with legal requirements, we are responding -- the answers to the Board to -- by the Board to the questions before the AGM have been published on the website of the company. In order to give priority to answers directly to the many questions from the Internet, I will not go over them here. All these questions, there's approximately 20, have covered very wide range of subjects such as our action for the climate to protect our ecosystem, strategic partnerships in the energy transition, gender parity, regarding jobs and remuneration, the impact of the pandemic, dividend payments and the stock split. The answers of the Board are, therefore, available on our website under the [ HEM ] section. I will now respond to questions that have been posed directly on airliquide.com. In order to preserve the spirit of dialogue on which we place great importance, we have chosen a technical solution that will enable you to ask your questions online on airliquide.com. And now I should add that your status of shareholders cannot be verified remotely, and therefore, these questions do not fall under the legal framework of the discussion in the room. And I should add that questions collected, fully respect your desire for anonymity. These questions have been asked on Air Liquide, and the large number of questions reflects your interest in the group, and I would like to thank you for that. I'm not going to answer all of the questions directly. And as was the case last year, we have used an artificial intelligence tool, which brings together these questions which have been grouped by theme. I would now like to start with [ Laura Marsais ], an independent journalist, who will be the spokesperson for questions from the Internet.

[Interpreted] Good afternoon, Benoit Potier. Since the 27th of April, a large number of you have asked questions. We have classified these questions based on the main themes, and I suggest that we discover together there's 5 main themes that have emerged. Well, here, they are: the impact of COVID-19, shareholder policy, climate and the energy transition, group strategy and human resource-related questions. So we will start off with the first theme which is the impact of COVID-19, which -- with a question that has come up very frequently, which is why did you decide to pay out dividends to shareholders. And did you have help from the government in terms of temporary layoff and guarantee those?

[Interpreted] Thank you for the question. Well, first of all, no, we did not receive any help from the government, be it through the temporary layoffs or otherwise, just to be clear. Well, why pay out a dividend? Well, we ask several questions. First of all, was 2019 a good year? Well, the answer, as you've seen was, yes, it was a good year. Is our financial situation healthy? The answer is, yes. The figures were presented earlier by Fabienne. Our debt, in fact, decreased in 2019. And so to who do these dividends benefit? To our shareholders. Who are the shareholders? As you've seen, both large institutional investors who are doing their job, investing their funds in companies. They receive dividends and reinvest them. And then we have individual shareholders, who, for the most part, are shareholders who have additional income through dividends. And who, therefore, need this income simply in order to be able to live as they have been accustomed. And finally, how could we contribute in the best way possible at this -- during this crisis? Was it through cutting back the dividend, stopping the dividend or by providing health care specialists, helping them with our skills and helping society at large? And as you've seen, we have many -- we have different types of expertise through ventilators, through oxygen, and we decided to emphasize those responses through our business. And to maintain the dividend, which is also a way of keeping the economy in a proper state of running. Hence, our choice to maintain a dividend payment.

[Interpreted] Now a question on the production of ventilators by an industrial consortium. Now some parts of the media have said that these ventilators were not suitable. So what is the situation there? And furthermore, is there -- are you going to continue this industrial partnership?

Well, I think the government was very clear on the reasons for choosing the Osiris ventilator, and the controversy over 1 or 2 days that we saw on this choice was quickly brought to an end. So what are we talking about here, are they suitable? Well, Osiris 3 is a well-known ventilator, which was established and has evolved over time. It is a transportable ventilator, which corresponds to putting tubes into COVID patients, and which enables them to have a respiratory help, life support before they go into the operating room. It does not create significant respiratory distress and can also be very useful after the operation. So it's a ventilator, which should -- fully suitable and appropriate to the situation surrounding the COVID-19, and enabled us to provide additional capacity for intensive care. The consortium, which we established is not intended to continue once the 10,000 ventilators manufactured in 50 days and delivered to the health authorities is over. But again, I would like to thank all the partners. I would like to thank all the employees and the 4 companies, which really fully committed themselves to manufacturing them. And I should add that we have learned the lessons from this mobilization. I think there are a lot of constructive lessons that we have learned in terms of strategic partnerships with companies that are not our competitors, but which can help us to develop more effectively, more quickly, the equipment that we manufacture for the health care sector. So it's both an industrial challenge, it's a display of our mobilization and also a very rewarding experience for the future.

[Interpreted] Now a question on this solidarity. Some groups, which are in a strong financial situation such as our own, have announced solidarity actions. Have you decided to display this solidarity, too?

[Interpreted] I've explained. Through our businesses, and I think this was the first of the easiest and the most logical answer that we could bring, it was to deliver oxygen and ventilators to all those who needed them. That was the first display of our solidarity. And all -- I should recall, all these ventilators are being provided at cost price. I think it was completely normal. Everybody agreed on this from the outset. And we also decided on the second measure, which is to contribute additional funds to the Air Liquide Foundation, which was already committed to help some of the research centers, which have established research programs as part of COVID, to understand the mechanism to step-up treatment, to encourage the establishment of vaccines or mechanisms that can lead to providing a vaccine. So all this has been launched, and it's an exceptional contribution by Air Liquide to its foundation. It's a pretty significant one because it represents a full 2 years of contribution by Air Liquide to its foundation. And we have also cast our net a bit wider than this because during the present crisis, the crisis is not over, far from it, we are only barely at the beginning of decontainment. And I think the questions will arise in the months ahead. In order to respond to the health crisis and also to restart the economy and also to ensure that nobody be left on the wayside be it companies or individuals, associations, who help patients and the victims of COVID-19. So we haven't yet come up with definitive answers, but we are considering an additional contribution by Air Liquide in order to be sure that the crisis is dealt with as best possible, and that we do not start -- stop overnight, once we've made all these efforts because the times, the period we're going to go through now is not going to be a normal period. I think there's going to be a new period that lies ahead, and we will be contributing to that. That's my belief. So that's what we have decided in order to respond to the efforts, this solidarity displayed by companies in France and in Europe in order to deal with our environment.

[Interpreted] Benoit Potier, I'd like to move on to the second thing, which is a shareholder policy. We have a question from an [ internal ], which is are you considering paying out a dividend half yearly or better still, quarterly? And according to this Internet, this would be better suited to the needs of individual and institutional shareholders who have to pay out retirement or annuities with low income.

[Interpreted] Well, this is a question that we get quite regularly. Some groups do this. So perhaps I should ask the question to Fabienne Lecorvaisier, and we'll -- this will give you a broader view. Fabienne?

[Interpreted] Well, Benoit, the payment of half yearly dividends is a relatively widespread in the oil industry, where the availability, of course, is very much dependent on the oil price. Conversely, the business of Air Liquide is a long-term business, and I think that our quarterly performance is not necessarily the best reference point for deciding on dividend policy. That's one consideration. It's not the only consideration, given the number of shareholders at Air Liquide. A number of individual shareholders -- the procedure or the process for paying out dividends is quite complex. It's rather costly, and that's the second reason for maintaining the annual dividend payment, which I think is preferable for our group.

[Interpreted] Thank you both. Now one of the most frequently asked questions is the loyalty bonus and free shares. Shareholders are wondering about this, of course, given the current situation. They're wondering whether the 10% loyalty bonus will indeed be paid out in May, and if free shares will be maintained in 2021.

[Interpreted] Now regarding the loyalty bonus, of course, it will be paid out. There's no reason why it shouldn't be. It's traditional, but it also rewards shareholder loyalty, and we fully intend to pay it out at the same time as the dividend. The calendar is -- we go [ x ] on May 11, and dividends will be paid out on May 13 2020, in the normal manner in -- and according to the planned calendar.

[Interpreted] And I'm coming now to one of the favorite topics of our shareholders, hydrogen and climate. And shareholders are wondering that in a context where all of this worth almost nothing, auto manufacturers will be less inclined to pursue research to provide hydrogen-powered cars.

[Interpreted] Now of course, this is a major question. This subject of hydrogen, which we're fascinated by now for some years. It's a legitimate question. When the price of oil is so low, you can -- it's understandable that you may wonder why you should change, why not go back to the cheapest source of energy. And then there's some anxiety, some concern over the fact that will this not well -- the crisis not call it to question everything that proceeded. Now a technical consideration on oil. Oil prices are very much dependent on the balance between supply and demand. Now stopping traveling around the world, of course, has significantly reduced the demand for oil. And you've seen the different -- the fluctuation in the oil price. And the main produced -- oil-producing countries initially were unable to reach an agreement, and that is what triggered the fall in the oil price since supply far outstrip demand. Finally, they agreed. Oil prices stabilized. But I think we should expect, once things go back a little bit more back to normal, that the oil price will go back up to a price which are -- unable, of course, to forecast, but which will be closer, no doubt, to what it was before than what it was during the crisis. That's the first consideration on the oil price. Now hydrogen. Hydrogen remains hydrogen. It is an energy -- a clean energy vector. It can be used in many very different markets. And what I can say, and this is very interesting, is that during the crisis, the only meetings, global meetings, that our teams maintained, at the request of our partners and customers, were meetings on hydrogen. It's a little bit as if the whole topic of hydrogen somehow just ignored everything that was going on. We just continued. We saw some announcements in Asia, in Europe, partnerships being established, maybe a little bit less on mobility, for example, individual vehicles, but more for heavy goods vehicles, trains, rail transport, other mobility themes, aircraft, shipping. I think there's very serious consideration of this. So things seem to have continued during the crisis. And notwithstanding the crisis in other major markets, energy markets, renewable hydrogen, storing of energy in -- through hydrogen, use of hydrogen for the industrial heating market or hydrogen as a raw material in some transformation industries. All of these markets, of course, maintain their full potential. And to summarize, I would say that hydrogen was able to go through the crisis, to ignore the crisis, and I think that we are going to continue to develop this. And the last clarification, at present, there are 81 companies which are part of the global Hydrogen Council. And in the near future, we will be appointing a Board of Directors for this Hydrogen Council. And just to illustrate the fact that the topic of hydrogen is of the greatest interest to all major industries around the world. Another interesting subject related to the climate. We know that several companies wish to become carbon neutral in 2050. We have several questions on this subject. For example, what is the situation regard Air Liquide and carbon neutral? What is the strategy of the group regarding the reduction of its direct and indirect CO2 emissions? Well, this is the other part of the energy transition and environment-related matters. We've just been talking about hydrogen. But of course, there is the emission of CO2, the reduction of the CO2 emissions, the potential use of CO2 in order to reduce the environmental footprint of human activity on the planet. Now the first call, all shareholders will remember this, is that our climate objectives have been announced. We've announced them to the market for the past 18 months. We are ahead of these objectives. They involve reducing the carbon intensity of Air Liquide Group by 30% between 2015 and 2025. These climate objectives are consistent, and they are the most objective in our industry. And we have several other actions which are underway, for example, buying electric -- clean electric power. So having an energy mix, which is far more favorable to low-carbon energy or reducing energy consumption in our own manufacturing, reducing the mileage of -- covered by our trucks or creating new clean energy for our own vehicles. So we have all sorts of measures which we are taking and which contribute to achieving these goals. Another important point to note is that we have decided to set a carbon price in all our investment decisions. So every time we decide on a new plant for a specific customer, we -- with -- of a carbon price, which is around EUR 50 per ton, we consider how the investment of our customer can be durable and how does it compare to the carbon situation and how we can implement solutions. There are always different technological solutions that are available. So how do we implement these technological solutions in order to try to reduce carbon emissions? And this requires a technical and economic parameter, which is the emission of carbon per ton and the economic cost of the solutions that we are recommending. So we have this basic reference which benchmark, which is EUR 50 per ton. And then you have a far more fundamental long-term question, which is our long-term carbon neutrality. Now Air Liquide consumes over EUR 3.5 billion of energy per year. Can Air Liquide and its industry cut back these emissions in volume terms? And can we achieve carbon neutrality? It's not an easy answer -- question to answer. We have launched in-depth analysis of this with the teams in charge of sustainable development with the Executive Committee and with the Environment and Society Committee of the Board of Directors and with the Board as a whole, in order to examine the possible answers and to see what time frame would be required in order to achieve carbon neutrality. So it's a real strategic question -- issue for the group. We don't yet have the answer to that question. But as soon as we are able to communicate on this, of course, we will do so and with the whole of the community, and of course, with our shareholders, and we have a climate strategy, which is very clearly defined regarding assets, regarding customers, regarding ecosystems. And we will have to deal with those 3 points when we come up with our answer to the carbon neutrality issue.

[Interpreted] And coming to the fourth theme which is that of strategy. We better discovered your health care activities. Some shareholders would like to know the importance of this unit for Air Liquide and the place that you plan to devote to this business in the future.

[Interpreted] So a brief reminder, and thank you for this opportunity to talk to you about health care. It's true that we tend to speak a lot about the environment, energy, hydrogen. Very little about health care, represents 20% of the group's activities. And in some countries such as France, health care is indeed a more important activity than industrial activity. So it really is central in the group's strategy. So what are we doing in health care? Well, to begin with we're selling gases, therapeutic gases, oxygen, but it's not the only gas that we sell. I believe that through this crisis, we've been made aware, if that wasn't the case previously, of the importance of the health care environment, of the overarching health care component and health environment. We can't simply say that providing patients, citizens in countries such as France or Europe, caring for them is enough because when we have a crisis, similar to the one that we're faced with today, we need to provide comprehensive responses. So for me, health care has become one of the prime issues of globalization, and that's a crucially important point. Hence, the question of putting, if that were possible, health care even more at the heart of the group. The gases equipment. We spoke a lot about ventilators in the treatments that can be imagined to treat pain, to treat a number of chronic diseases with gases, with therapeutic mixtures. We need equipment. We've just seen that ventilators were crucial. But the bespoke mixtures that are required to treat certain conditions with these treatments will require very sophisticated equipment. Air Liquide can contribute to health care through this equipment. We also discovered where that needed, that digital plays a key role, not just in what we do on a day-to-day basis, but in the responses that we bring to health care. For a number of years now, we started setting up digital platforms, both for patients, health care professionals, the payers, insurers, social security authorities. And for health care, we can go even further and provide a real response, which isn't just one of efficiency but one of health, improve the quality of life and health of patients. In fact, we've begun a number of clinical trials that demonstrate that the quality of life of patients. As demonstrated, we can show this professionally through clinical trials, and that quality of life has improved through platforms and through professional health care monitoring. So at the crossroads of the future, there will be the ability to work in the medical sphere and to provide digital responses. The combination of the 2 will be one, be the key components in the future health care strategy. So we have all the assets that are necessary to place health care where that needed, at the heart of Air Liquide's future strategy.

[Interpreted] Another question following up on health care. Why do you decide to sell your Schülke subsidiary just at a time when hygiene is becoming a central issue, probably even more so in the future?

[Interpreted] Yes, well, that's a fairly natural question. On the one hand, we announced before the crisis and the decision was taken well before the crisis to consider the disposal of that activity. At the same time, the crisis that reveals that a company that manufactures these gels and disinfectors are very important in the respect for the quality of the environment. Well, the answer to that question is fairly simple. When we took that decision, we didn't take it merely on the basis of what was going to happen. We had no knowledge of that, but it was part of an in-depth strategic review to know whether that activity could perhaps be of use to Air Liquide in the future, that's 10, 20 years down the road and if the group was capable of supporting and bringing the talents, the research investment, physical investment to that type of activity. And our in-depth strategic response was that activity over time was going to become too removed from our core business. And so it would be in our interest and that of our subsidiaries to sell it to partners who could make better use of it long-term in strategic terms. So we took the decision well before the crisis. We orchestrated the disposal process. And during the crisis, we found a fund with which we have already had dealings in the past that stepped up to take over this activity. And we, of course, sought to provide all the guarantees to our teams and to the business. So we signed, it was announced, an agreement, a disposal agreement subject to 2 things. Firstly, the approval process by the competition authorities, that's one point; and also the process for approval by employee representatives. That's underway and will continue during the course of the second half. And theoretically, if all goes smoothly, will lead to a positive response during the course of the third quarter. Those are all the points that led us to continue with this disposal. The current crisis shows that the company has value that in passing, strengthened the appetite of the various funds and companies who stepped up to consider an acquisition and prepare the response. So we simply considered that the time was right. Valuation is a good one, and so we maintain that process.

[Interpreted] Moving now to the final topic that, of course, concern employees. COVID-19 has shown that working methods can change by stepping up remote working. The shareholder's asking about the growth of this approach in the months to come. What's your answer to that?

[Interpreted] Well, yes, that's -- I would say, almost what is -- has been most visible during this crisis. We're all confined to our homes. We've organized the work with the respective teams. We have made extensive use of digital technology. We interact on a daily base -- basis. We have regular meetings with our team. So we've experimented a new way of working. And this new way of working isn't going to stop overnight post-lockdown. I think there are many lessons to be drawn. And the question we can ask ourselves is, did we lose in productivity over the period? I can say that this is a question I asked on many occasions to the management teams who are in contact with the various countries and the teams, the answer is no. No, in fact, we managed to maintain a very good level of competitiveness, of productivity during that period. So we can draw the lessons aimed at better safety for employees. Probably less travel, we'll be saving on that front. We'll -- it's a time saver. We'll manage time differently. We'll be more rigorous in our approach and practice. These meetings have a start time, an end time. We have slots that are booked. And in fact, we start our meetings on time. We end the meetings on time. We take decisions so in fact, there's been improvement in the way the company operates that's going remarkable and I believe that over and above this work organization, we have to look further out and seek to learn all the lessons from the crisis, from the confined work, this remote work in process to organize work differently going forward. I think the real balance to be struck between home-working and office-working will happen differently. We'll offer probably more flexibility toward our employees so they can work differently and probably better going forward.

[Interpreted] Over and above employment organization, how is the company going to bounce back after the crisis, opening up new promising markets or productivity improvements?

[Interpreted] Well, I think productivity, as I've just said, as regards the in-house organization. What I said for in-house can be reflected outside with our suppliers with our customers. It's difficult to go and see a number of customers so we've begun to interact, to converse by video, over the phone, but especially by video, and I'm sure we'll learn the lessons from that. We can have more contacts that are briefer, more frequent and probably a better quality. And we've also learned to be more agile in our mindset and organization and in rethinking about our markets. I think that all our markets, all our customers will ask surging questions about accelerating in certain areas of the environment, energy, health, globalization. We can imagine, for example, in the field of electronics, we had production and delivery chains, supply chains that could involve several corners of the planet; design in the U.S.; production in Japan or in Singapore; packaging in Taiwan; delivery in China or Korea. Conversely, we could have local productions. So this crisis will lead us to ask questions about the supply chains, the value chains, how must these chains be reorganized, reshore, relocate more organized solely on the basis of cost, but also on costs and the strategic importance of the various products that we produce. Our customers have already begun to put questions to us. We'll go even further. So in my view, we can expect markets to change, to be transformed even if they're not on the face of it. Resolution -- revolutions, we'll have to adapt our offerings and solutions to just about all our markets. So yes, we will bounce back. Yes, we have opportunities. Yes, ultimately, we're looking for the positive side to this crisis, and we'll, to some extent, reinvent the way we do business with most of our customers and markets.

[Interpreted] This question from a shareholder who's been following the group closely. He's keenly interested by the Norway plant that recycles biomass. And he's wondering, wouldn't it be a good thing to have such a plant, a factory in Britain and where everyone is complaining about pollution from pig farming.

[Interpreted] Well, he obviously knows his stuff, this shareholder. Air Liquide is involved in this very interesting experiment in Norway, south of Oslo in what's known as the Magic Factory, as it's known. Well, what is that? It's an interesting experiment of operationalizing a circular economy where urban waste as well as farm and animal waste are collected, assembled in a digester and a transformer to produce what's known as biogas, a fairly common term, but rather more originally, this biogas that's manufactured, a mixture of natural gas, but also CO2 and other products is separated, and that's where Air Liquide technology comes into play. We have a factory, a small Air Liquide factory that separates the CO2 from the methane. Methane is then liquefied and then redistributed in the Oslo region for buses or trucks that use natural gas, biogas, manufactured from waste. And what's also very interesting, this coupling, we see it very rarely is the CO2 that's separated is reused on-site in greenhouses, and those greenhouses are fully integrated in the ecosystem that recover farming waste material that are nutrients in order to accelerate production in these greenhouses through pretty sophisticated studies. It so happens that I personally went to visit this Magic Factory in Norway recently. I was able to see with some of our teams, see that the fruit and vegetables growing in these greenhouses, not only are in abundance, are excellent, have -- their taste is far better than the taste of normal tomatoes, and all that's based on studies conducted with Oslo University. So it's a very interesting response and very rich to questions that arise. So the shareholder who's asked that question, he's very informed. Could we do the same in Britain? In all likelihood, yes. So we are prepared to look at opportunities in Britain. And to be perfectly honest, it's not just Britain, but also Italy because Italy has already started discussions in a similar direction. We could very well replicate that experience both in Britain and Italy and why not elsewhere?

[Interpreted] To be followed. Next question, with the COVID-19 crisis, shouldn't you favor investment over shareholder return?

[Interpreted] Investment and dividend. Well, that's always a very good question. And I'll ask Fabienne to answer that.

[Interpreted] So it's a question that we partially answered. But if you looked at our first quarter publication, we saw that development activities remain very dynamic. And once again, we've decided on new CapEx amounts that are significant industrial investment higher than last year with many new projects in the field of electronics. That's very good news. It means that in spite of the crisis and during the crisis, we continue to build growth for the future. It happens that we have a strong balance sheet, high level of cash flow during the course of this first quarter that allows us to undertake these new investments, to build our growth without injuring our shareholder return. The short film we showed in the introduction, recall our shareholders have always been at our side. Major acquisition of [ Ipswich ], that of Airgas in 2016, and it's, therefore, logical to maintain a balance between investments, development, future growth and shareholder return.

[Interpreted] Another question now from a shareholder. What strategy you're going to adopt if there's a second wave of the epidemic?

[Interpreted] Well, fundamentally, it's to be ready. The strategy is to learn the lessons. Learn the lessons, first and foremost, that concern emergency response. Have the stocks in place, organization in place, team A, team B to alternate. Not to lower one's guard too soon, that would be a mistake. And to say that in all likelihood, there will be a second wave, it will very probably be a lot weaker in intensity, but we must get ready for that. And both in terms of the in-house organization and external relations, we're preparing ourselves for that so as to reactivate with an intensity to be defined, depending on the intensity of the crisis to reactivate everything we've done for this first part of the crisis.

[Interpreted] Another question. On your business model, on the group's resilient Air Liquide, as was the case in 2009, will it be able to increase its profits in the crisis? Isn't -- hasn't it been -- this become more cyclical since the Airgas acquisition?

[Interpreted] No, I don't think so. Airgas, as you will no doubt recall, provided us with a U.S. presence across all our territories. In the U.S. it also gave us a presence in health care. We supply great, many of the U.S. hospitals. And in fact, we were called upon by the U.S. government to organize the health response in the hospitals. So no, I don't think that it's made us more cyclical. I mean it's a fairly natural question investors put to us many times, but for the past 5 years, we've strengthened our presence in very complementary markets. I don't think that all in all, there are any worries to be have on that front. I think we can now move to the last question. Here.

[Interpreted] So by way of a conclusion, Benoît Potier, what are the major areas of innovation in the groups? And where will future growth come from?

[Interpreted] Well, that's obviously a very good question to conclude on. The real answer is innovation. I could give you a long list of the markets, all those that we've mentioned, but also products and technologies that are concerned, be it with regard to the environment or the energy transition. Large industry is the heart of everything, hydrogen, oxygen, CO2 management, energy, purchasing must be a lot cleaner biogas that we've just mentioned, CO2 management to CO2 liquefaction, CO2 sequestration. A lot of important markets, a lot of innovations. We have many interesting responses, health care, therapies, vaccine adjuvants, health care in the home with digital technology. Digital technology that goes into the modes of organization efficiencies and new solutions and platform, be it industrial platforms, such as those that we've already implemented or health care platforms. And a small point that I mentioned earlier, and I'll end on that, the consortium with other industries has really placed the focus on strategic partners. We can do more better with a better cost if we team up in a number of fields with strategic partners. So my thanks to those who supported us. We'll take that into account in our strategy. So that was the final question. Thank you, [ Laura ]. Let's now move to the results of the vote on the resolutions. Exceptionally, this combined AGM is in closed sessions. Many of you voted by correspondents. Once again, my thanks to you all. We're now going to reveal the results of the vote resolution by resolution. Given that these resolution are contained in the documents that were sent to you prior to the meeting, we will dispense with a full reading of the resolutions. We'll just give you the summary that will be displayed on the screen. First of all, the ordinary general meeting resolutions, Fabienne.

[Interpreted] First resolution. Approval of the company financial statements for the year 2019. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.58%. Resolution is passed.

[Interpreted] Second resolution, approval of the consolidated financial statements for the year 2019. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.58% resolution is also passed.

[Interpreted] Resolution #3, appropriation of 2019 earnings and setting of a dividend. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.43%. Resolution is passed.

[Interpreted] Fourth resolution, authorization granted to the Board of Directors for 18 months to allow the company to trade in its own shares. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 98.21%. Resolution is passed.

[Interpreted] Fifth resolution, renewal of the term of office of Mr. Brian Gilvary. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 85.48%. Resolution is adopted.

[Interpreted] Sixth resolution, appointment of Madam Anette Bronder as Company Director. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.81%. Resolution's passed.

[Interpreted] Seventh resolution. Appointment of Madame Kim-Ann Mink as Company Director. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.79%. Resolution is passed.

[Interpreted] Resolution 8. Statutory auditor special report on agreements covered by articles L. 225-38 and subsequent to the French Commercial Code. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.79%. Resolution's passed.

[Interpreted] Ninth resolution, approval of the elements of remuneration paid during our award in respect of the year 2019 to Mr. Benoit Potier. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 89.56%. Resolution's passed. Resolution 10, approval information relating to the remuneration of corporate offices, stated in Paragraph 1 of Article L. 225-37-3 of the French Commercial Code. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 93.47%. Resolution is adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 11, approval of the remuneration policy applicable to corporate officers. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 88.83%. Resolution's adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 12, setting of the total annual amount of directors' remuneration. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 97.54%. Resolution's adopted.

[Interpreted] Now the resolutions for the Extraordinary General Meeting. Resolution 13, authorization granted to the Board of Directors for 24 months to reduce the share capital by cancellation of treasury shares. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 98.94%. Resolution's passed.

[Interpreted] Resolution 14. Delegation of authority granted to the Board for a period of 26 months to increase the share capital through capitalization of additional paid-in capital, reserves, profits for a maximum amount of EUR 300 million. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.88%. Resolution's adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 15, delegation of authority granted to the Board of Directors for a period of 26 months to perform share capital increases, with cancellation of preferential subscription rights, reserved for members of a company or group savings plan. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 98.97%. Resolution's adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 16, delegation of authority granted to the Board of Directors for a period of 18 months to perform share capital increases, with cancellation of preferential subscription rights, reserved for a category of beneficiaries. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 98.85%. Resolution's adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 17, harmonization of Article 11 of the articles of association composition of the Board with the provisions of the PACTE law in relation to directors representing employees. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.94%. Resolution is passed.

[Interpreted] Resolution 18, modification to article 15 of the article, powers of the Board of Directors relating to management decisions in accordance with PACTE law. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.94%. Resolution adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 19, compliance of Article 16 of the articles with the provisions of the PACTE law relating to Directors' remuneration. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor 99.92%. Resolution adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 20, modification of article 9 of the articles relating to threshold notifications. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.97%. Resolution passed.

[Interpreted] Resolution 21, statutory modification relating to the authorization to decide or authorize the issue of bonds. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.12%. Resolution's adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 22, extension of the company's term and consequential amendment to the articles of association. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.98%. Resolution's adopted.

[Interpreted] Resolution 23. For the ordinary AGM. Last resolution, powers for formalities. [Voting]

[Interpreted] In favor, 99.98%. The resolution is adopted. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, thank you very much for your confidence. The meeting adjourns at 16:52. Thank you for attending this very unusual AGM. I'd like to thank all of those involved in the organization of this. We will organize as soon as possible, a meeting in Paris for a session of questions and answers and to hold the meeting face-to-face. Ladies and gentlemen, look after yourselves, your families, your nearest and dearest. Thank you, once again. See you soon. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]